Wholesaling: Stable Business Climate

In wholesaling, the business climate indicator remained at the level of the previous month. While companies assessed the current situation more favourably, they were a little less optimistic regarding the coming six months. In a year-on-year comparison, wholesalers were satisfied with their sales even though, according to official figures, real wholesale sales fell by 1% in December 2017. BGA, the industry association, expects that wholesalers will continue to profit from the strong economic performance in Germany and Europe and that sales will pick up again. Overall, wholesaling grew by 3% in 2017, following a slight decline in sales in 2016 (– 0.2%). Inventories were still below the long-term average, and order plans were more expansion-oriented than in the previous month. According to official figures, wholesale prices increased less in February than in the previous months. This is confirmed by the results of the ifo Business Survey. For the coming three months, however, the surveyed wholesalers continue to expect favourable pricing options. The number of employees in wholesaling increased by 1.3% in 2017. For the next three months, more hirings are planned than the average of the previous year.