Nr_10 Italy remains the largest exhibitor at German trade fairs in 2008
15.7.2009 Around 93,000 exhibitors from abroad took part in international trade fairs in Germany last year, with EU countries continuing to contribute the majority of exhibitors (51.5 %). Growth in attendance by countries from Eastern Asia slowed considerably. Italy remained the country with the largest number of participation at trade fairs, followed by China and the UK. These are the results of the latest survey carried out by the Association of the German Trade Fair Industry (AUMA).
Slowdown in exhibitor growth from Eastern Asia
From 2007 to 2008 the number of foreign exhibitors at international trade fairs in Germany rose by 3.6 %. EU countries accounted for the largest share of exhibitors, with close to 48,000 participations, followed by Southern, Eastern and Central Asia (25,000), whose numbers increased by more than 6 %, following a downturn due to the 2007 trade fair schedule.
The number of exhibitors from the European Union increased by 3 %. There was considerable growth in numbers from Sweden (+17 %), the UK (+10 %) and France (+8 %), while Italy (-6 %) and Spain (-3 %) reported a decline. Exhibitor numbers from the People’s Republic of China rose by 8 % (2007: +2 %). However, the era of double-digit growth appears to be over – as late as 2006 China reported a growth rate of 30 %. Taiwan again reported significant growth (24 %), due to the large number of trade fairs taking place, although it was unable to match the results of 2006. Exhibitor numbers from India rose by only 2 %, while numbers from Korea declined by almost 8 %. On the other hand it is worth noting that exhibitor numbers from Japan increased by 20 %.
The growth rates for participation by exhibitors from eastern EU countries are clearly no longer as high as some have been in recent years. Thus there were close to 6 % more exhibitors from Poland, 2 % more from the Czech Republic, and almost 3 % less from Hungary. Participation figures for the Baltic states are mostly stagnating too. However, Romania reported an increase of 17 %.
Among the larger non-EU states there were 7 % more exhibitors from Switzerland, 6 % more from Turkey, whereas numbers from Russia fell by 2 %. Attendance by exhibitors from Ukraine, previously very low, rose by 23 %. At 1,400, exhibitor numbers from the Middle East remained more or less the same. With almost 350 more exhibitors, the United Arab Emirates again reported double-digit growth. However, at 600 the country with the highest number of exhibitors from the region is Israel (+17 %).
Participation figures for North America rose by 3 %. There were close to 5 % more exhibitors from the USA, but Canada reported slightly fewer numbers. Participation figures for South America continue to depend strongly on ANUGA, the food exhibition which takes place in uneven years. Accordingly, from 2007 to 2008 numbers fell to nearly 2,000, a drop of 21 %. Other large countries from the region such as Brazil, Argentina and Mexico were affected too.
Participation figures for Africa fell too, but only by 5 %. Attendance levels here also depend on large food presentations taking place. Exhibitor numbers from some countries increased, from Kenya and Namibia for example. At around 360 companies, South Africa’s presence at trade fairs remained largest. However, the numbers from Egypt were highest, whose exhibitors attended 44 German trade fairs.
Exhibitor numbers from Australia and Oceania fell by close to 15 %. Attendance here is also linked with food exhibitions.
However, New Zealand’s exhibitors bucked the trend. They took part in 41 trade fairs, a 4 % increase in attendance. Australia made up two-thirds of the total for participation from this region. Their exhibitors attended 74 trade fairs.
As in recent years, the country with the largest number of exhibitors at international trade fairs in Germany was Italy (11,125 companies), followed by the People’s Republic of China (9,998), the UK (5,385), the Netherlands (5,217), France (5,211) and the USA (5,036) which, despite more American exhibitors attending, dropped two places due to an increase in numbers from Western Europe.
The following places among the top 12 nations were occupied by Taiwan (4,386), Spain (4,290), Austria (3,649), Switzerland (3,623), India (2,763) and Turkey (2,475).
The country which took part in more trade fairs than any other was Switzerland, which was represented at 151 out of 153 international trade fairs, ahead of Austria (150), Italy (148), the Netherlands (147) and France (146).
download: exhibitiors_2008.eps
Press contact:
Harald Koetter, phone: +49/30/24 000-140, fax: +49/30/24 000-340, email: h.koetter@auma.de
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