After the fall of the Berlin Wall, around 400,000 people emigrated to the west. Due to the
unprofitability of the East German economy, after the reunification and adoption of the
common currency, the situation deteriorated in the eastern states, i.e. in the former GDR.
Companies collapsed, about one million people lost their jobs, unemployment reached about
17% in 1997, and in 2005 it was 18.8% record-breaking (now it oscillates around 10%). The
situation improved after 2006, but the eastern states remain at 67% of the GDP of the western
part of the country.