Only marginal growth in the European garden market in 2016

With marginal sales growth of 0.1 per cent, the garden market in Great Britain, Germany, the Netherlands, France and Belgium hovered around the level of the previous year in the first six months of 2016. The overall sales volume of the market, which is monitored by GfK, came to € 4 bn.
The Netherlands recorded the biggest increase in sales compared with the previous year at 9.6 per cent to € 96.8 mio. Sales in the other countries covered by GfK remained steady or declined slightly.
Sales of motorised garden appliances rose once again by 3.9 per cent in the first six months. This market attained a total volume of € 1.6 bn in Great Britain, Germany, the Netherlands, France and Belgium. In this segment also, the Netherlands experienced the greatest sales growth of 24.2 per cent. In Germany, sales in this segment increased by 10.7 per cent, followed by Belgium with an increase of 8.6 per cent.

Sales of robotic lawn mowers grew by 37.2 per cent in the first six months of 2016 to a total value of € 127 mio in Great Britain, Germany, the Netherlands, France and Belgium. Again, the Netherlands recorded the biggest increase in sales compared with the previous year at 92 per cent, followed by Germany with sales growth of 41.5 per cent.
Robotic lawn mowers that can be operated by mobile phone accounted for nearly 50 per cent of sales in the first half of 2016. These appliances sold best in France, accounting for 62.4 per cent of sales in the overall market for robotic lawn mowers.
Consumers are attaching increasing importance to the use of natural garden chemical products. Their share of the overall market for garden chemicals grew by 7.8 per cent compared with the same period in 2015. The volume of sales in the first six months of this year amounted to € 346 mio. France recorded the biggest increase in sales at 16.2 per cent, followed by the Netherlands with an increase of 12.1 per cent compared with the same period last year.