Fewer house plants

The European trade in house plants in the first half of 2011 was down ten per cent on the level of the previous year. Up to now the pot plant market with its continuous growth rates had proved far more stable than the cut flower market. The export statistics of the Netherlands, Europe’s key exporter, appear more positive, however: pot plant exports increased from January to August 2011 by three per cent compared with the same period in the previous year, yielding € 1.46 bn. Deliveries increased to the British market (up 14 per cent), for example, and to the Scandinavian and Russian markets (each up 20 per cent). With a volume of € 8.3 bn, Germany is well out in front among the European flower and plant markets, followed by Great Britain with € 4.5 bn, France with € 3.3 bn and Italy with € 2.2 bn. These statistics were assembled in the run-up to the International Plant Fair IPM. With reference to per capita consumption, however, the ranking looks different. Here Denmark and Norway top the list with € 156, followed by Germany with € 102, Austria with € 96 and the Netherlands with € 90.