Camping continues to thrive in Germany, hitting a new record in 2025. The Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) reported 44.7 million guest nights on campsites-4.2 % more than in 2024 (42.9 million) and 24.9 % higher than pre‑pandemic levels in 2019 (35.8 million).
Except for the pandemic years of 2020 and 2021, the number of campsite stays has risen almost continuously. Within the last 20 years the total has more than doubled, growing by 105.5 % from 21.7 million nights in 2005. For comparison, overall lodging nights across all accommodation types increased 44.6 % over the same period.
In 2025, about one in eleven guest nights (9 %) occurred on a campsite. This share was even higher in 2020, when 1 in 9 nights (11.2 %) took place on a campsite, because total lodging nights fell more sharply than camping nights during the pandemic. The 2025 share is above the 2024 level of 8.6 % and well above the pre‑Corona rate of 7.2 % recorded in 2019.
The most popular destinations for campers in 2025 were:
– Schleswig‑Holstein’s Baltic Sea coast – 3.5 million nights, 3.4 million of them domestic.
– The Black Forest – 2.6 million nights.
– Lower Saxony’s North Sea coast – 2.0 million nights.
– Bavaria’s Allgäu – 1.8 million nights.
– The Lake Constance-Upper Swabia region – 1.7 million nights.
– Mecklenburg’s Baltic Sea coast – 1.6 million nights.
– Vorpommern – 1.5 million nights.
Foreign campers favored the southwest of Germany. In 2025 they spent the most nights in the Black Forest (735 000), followed by the Mosel-Saar region (369 000), the Rhineland‑Palatinate Eifel (301 000), Lake Constance-Upper Swabia (239 000), and the Allgäu (162 000).
By the share of campsite nights relative to all accommodation nights, Franconian Lakes remained the top camping region: 47.1 % of nights there were on campsites. Other high‑share areas were Lausitz Lakes (37.3 %), the Hegau on Lake Constance (33.7 %), Holstein Swiss (31.1 %), and Haßberge in Franconia (26.4 %). Nationwide, the share of campsite nights averaged 9.0 % in 2025.
Prices for campsite stays have risen faster than overall accommodation prices. In 2025, staying on a motorhome site cost 32.2 % more than in the first pandemic year of 2020, while the campsite fee itself increased by 28.7 % compared to 2020. Across all types of accommodation, nights increased in price by 26.9 % over the same period, and consumer prices in Germany rose 21.9 % relative to 2020.
