German craft businesses demonstrated resilience in 2023, generating a total turnover of €766 billion. According to data released by the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) on Thursday, this represents a 6.4% increase compared to the previous year, slightly outpacing inflation at 5.9%.
Despite the robust turnover, the number of craft enterprises decreased marginally, falling by 0.4% to approximately 568,000. The workforce within the craft sector remained largely stable, experiencing only a slight reduction of 0.1% to around 5.4 million. This stability masks a nuanced shift: a decrease of 0.3% in the number of employees subject to social security contributions (reaching 4.1 million) was offset by a 1.7% increase in the number of employees receiving smaller remuneration (reaching 646,000).
Analyzing performance by enterprise size reveals a significant disparity. Large craft businesses, employing 50 or more personnel, experienced a considerably stronger turnover increase of 9.3% compared to smaller businesses, which saw a rise of 3.9%. Notably, larger enterprises also reported a 1.5% increase in their workforce, while employee numbers in smaller businesses declined by 1.1%.
Craft businesses’ share of the overall German economy continues to be substantial, representing 7.6% of total turnover – an increase of 0.2 percentage points from the prior year. Within the broader German workforce, craft businesses account for 12.8% of all employees subject to social security contributions. Across the entire business landscape, craft enterprises constitute 16.4% of all registered companies.
The construction sector is particularly reliant on craft businesses, with nearly two-thirds (66.2%) of all businesses within this sector classified as craft enterprises. Within both the construction sector and the craft sector as a whole, the carpentry and construction trades continue to be the dominant force, both in terms of the number of enterprises, the number of employees and the total turnover. These specific trades achieved a turnover of €220 billion in 2023, supported by 218,000 businesses and 1.5 million employees. While the number of carpentry and construction businesses declined by 1.4% year-on-year, the workforce increased by 0.4% and turnover rose by a substantial 8.2%.
Employee numbers saw only slight increases within the automotive repair sector (+0.8%), carpentry and construction trades (+0.4%) and trades focused on commercial needs (+0.3%). Conversely, the civil engineering sector experienced the most significant workforce decline (-1.5%).
Turnover growth varied considerably across different crafts. The automotive repair sector demonstrated the largest increase (+9.8%), followed by carpentry and construction (+8.2%) and healthcare services (+7.2%). The civil engineering sector, however, reported a slight decline in turnover (-0.2%).