Wholesaling: Business Climate Deteriorates But Remains Favourable

In wholesaling the business climate deteriorated slightly, but remains at a high level. Wholesalers were less satisfied with their current business situation and were also less positive about their business outlook. Survey participants were nevertheless clearly more satisfied with developments in turnover compared to the same month last year. According to official statistics, the positive development in turnover continued in the third quarter of 2017. Production-related trade in particular performed particularly strongly. Many wholesalers also reported implementing price increases in December. The German Federal Statistics Office's index of wholesaling prices rose by 3.3% in November. Inventories grew slightly in December, but remained below the average figures for the branch. Wholesalers intend to ramp up their ordering activity in the months ahead. Employment in wholesaling has grown since 2010 and was particularly positive in 2017. The Federation of German Wholesale and Foreign Trade expects the sector to reach the 2 million employee mark in 2018. Survey participants plan to recruit more staff on balance over the months ahead, and reported numbers clearly above the long-term average.