Stable garden market

It is expected that the German garden market will see growth of 1.1 per cent in 2012 to a sales volume of € 18.272 bn. The live plants section will have increased by 0.7 per cent by year’s end, and hardware by 1.9 per cent. This forecast comes from IFH Retail Consultants and the German Garden Industry Association (IVG). Last year the sector reported sales of € 18.067 bn, which represented growth of 1.5 per cent. It is the specialist garden centres that are profiting most from this year’s growth, with sales experiencing an increase of 5.1 per cent for a combined total of € 2.27 bn. This contrasts with the DIY stores, which will only manage to hang onto the € 4.69 bn level of sales in their garden centres and departments. The forecast for 2013 points to the continuation of a stable developmental trend of around 1.1 per cent again.