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The DIY trade in Germany ended 2023 with a 3.1 per cent drop in sales. The sales volume totalled EUR 21.24 billion. On a like-for-like basis, sales at DIY stores in Germany fell by 3.4 per cent. These figures were announced today at the industry association BHB's annual press conference at the International Hardware Fair in Cologne.
Franz-Peter Tepaß, spokesman for the BHB board and member of the Obi board, pointed out that "the DIY boost in 2020 has brought forward demand for at least two years". We can now see that the situation is "normalising to some extent". The average annual growth rate from 2020 to 2023 was 2.2 per cent; from 2017 to 2019 it was 2.3 per cent.
Tepaß was very confident about 2024: "As an industry, we see the glass as half full rather than half empty," he emphasised. The mood is on the rise again. He saw signs of this in the first few months of the current year. In February, for example, the industry achieved around 6 per cent more turnover than in the same month last year.
German consumers were very cautious in 2023 when it came to investment and seasonal products. Tiles, for example, fell by 11.0 per cent. The sector recorded the highest growth in the garden chemicals/soil/seeds range, which increased by 8.8 per cent. However, the important garden business suffered massively from the bad weather in spring 2023.
The year 2023 in the entire DACH region was similar to Germany. DIY stores in Austria generated sales of EUR 3.07 billion, 3.2 per cent less than in the previous year and 3.2 per cent less on a like-for-like basis. In Switzerland, where 2022 was still a better year due to coronavirus, sales fell by 4.9 per cent to CHF 3.53 billion in 2023.
