Germany
Good stats masking some big challenges for the German messes’ trade fair motors
Theo Reilly looks at the data behind Germany’ s trade show recovery. Despite major challenges, the country remains the world’ s top destination for major exhibitions
he German exhibition
T industry is facing serious challenges. The sector is faced with high energy prices, rising labour costs and challenging tax policies. And yet, Germany remains the number one trade fair location in the world. Two thirds of major trade fairs are held in Germany.
Numbers aren’ t quite back to pre-Covid levels, but they’ re close. Visitor numbers are up; exhibitor numbers are up. But let’ s look at the specifics.
According to AUMA, the German Trade Show Association, budgets are tight and decisions are increasingly last-minute. The industry wants help from the government to continue growth and stay at the top of the global market.
Back to pre-pandemic levels In 2024, the country’ s trade fair companies are expected to have generated nearly € 4bn in revenue. That is close to the pre-pandemic peak of € 4.1bn in 2019.
In 2024, organisers reported a significant pattern of growth.
• Visitor numbers rose 9 % to 11.7m
Core stats snapshot
• Germany is still the number one trade fair location in the world
• Two-thirds of the world’ s leading trade fairs are held in Germany
• There are 70 exhibition venues across the country. Together, they support up to 230,000 jobs
• In a typical year, German trade fairs attract over 235,000 exhibiting companies and 16m visitors
• 60 % of exhibitors and 35 % of visitors at leading trade fairs come from outside Germany
• More than 310 trade fairs are scheduled in Germany in 2025. That adds up to 1,107 total trade fair days
• Messe Frankfurt was the country’ s top earner in 2023, with € 600m in revenue
• The busiest trade fair cities in 2025 will be Munich and Nuremberg, with 28 trade fairs each. Stuttgart follows with 24
• The busiest single day will be 8 November, when 16 trade fairs take place across Germany at the same time
Above: Dr Bjorn Mathes
Above: Wolfgang Marzin
Below: Messe Frankfurt entrance
• Exhibitor numbers increased 10 % to 205,000
• Stand space grew 7 % to 7.1m sqm This growth came despite major transport strikes in the first quarter. Fifty trade fairs were affected and, according to AUMA, up to 250,000 attendees may have been lost as a result.
CEO of Messe Frankfurt, Wolfgang Marzin tells EW:“ We can confirm that our trade fairs, congresses and events at our locations have grown significantly in terms of exhibitor and visitor numbers since the pandemic. We are at pre-pandemic levels and above for Messe Frankfurt events.”
Marzin adds there has been no decline in the total number of events.
Changing exhibitor base Companies are still investing in Germany’ s trade fairs, but they’ re doing so with more caution.
According to the AUMA Exhibitor Outlook 2025 / 2026, trade fairs remain the second most important marketing tool for German companies, after their own websites. But exhibitor plans are shifting. In 2024, 71 % of companies planned to participate in a similar number of trade fairs but, in 2025, that number has dropped to 57 %.
At the same time, 21 % now plan to increase their trade fair appearances – up from 15 % last year. Large companies with over 250 employees are planning an average of more than seven trade
32 Issue 3 2025 www. exhibitionworld. co. uk