According to the “Datev SME Index,” reported by the “Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung” (Wednesday edition), revenue in the hospitality sector was 5.9 percent higher year-over-year during July, contrasting sharply with other areas. While industries such as construction and manufacturing saw significant drops in sales, the hospitality sector demonstrated robust growth.
However, the overall revenue for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) decreased by two percent compared to the previous year in July. The upward trend, which had been positive until March, has since reversed and become negative. Robert Mayr, Chairman of the Datev Cooperative, commented that the economic situation remains challenging for many businesses.
Economists at Datev speculate that the stronger performance in hospitality might be linked to increased domestic tourism this year, with more people choosing to vacation in Germany rather than abroad, especially given the conflicts in the Middle East. Furthermore, the reduction of the VAT on food in the culinary industry to seven percent in January may have positively influenced the sector.
Despite this, employment in the hospitality sector is falling, partly due to disproportionately high wage growth of 6.5 percent in July. Recently, SMEs in this sector have employed around one percent fewer people compared to a year ago (measured in full-time equivalents).
Datev, the information provider for tax consulting professions, gathers data for the SME Index from value-added tax pre-declarations of over one million medium-sized companies and from payroll records for more than eight million employees. This data is anonymized and aggregated to provide a picture of the business cycle situation within German SMEs that is often earlier and more comprehensive than official statistics.
