High levels of regulation and government rules overtook shortages of labour as the biggest short-term challenge in the first quarter of 2024: 67% of firms considered regulation to be a pressing problem over the next six months, while 62% reported the same for the labour market situation. At 54%, the share of firms that saw high production and labour costs as problematic for the next six months also remained at a high level. By contrast, the share of firms for which access to intermediate inputs was a pressing problem for the next six months fell again, reaching just 12% in March 2024. In the first quarter of 2024, firms were also surveyed for the first time regarding their assessment of energy prices. The proportion of firms that considered energy prices to be fairly unproblematic in the short term increased slightly over the quarter to 25%, while around half of firms – with this share falling slightly to 50% during the quarter – saw energy prices as a pressing problem over the next six months.