Number one worldwide
Germany is the home of trade fairs: Today there are a good 70 trade fair venues between Husum on the North Sea and Friedrichshafen on Lake Constance, between Leipzig in the East and Essen in the West. Germany is home to four of the world's ten largest exhibition centres, and several organisers are among the world's top 10.
Two thirds of the world's leading trade fairs in Germany
- 160 to 180 international and national trade fairs are held in Germany every year.
- These fairs attract more than 180,000 exhibitors and ten million visitors.
- 60 per cent of exhibitors and 35 per cent of trade visitors come from abroad.
- 40 per cent of foreign exhibitors and a quarter of foreign visitors come from overseas
Dense network of regional trade and public fairs
- At regional events 55,000 exhibitors and around six million visitors are gathering.
- International, national and regional trade fairs add up to a programme of around 350 to 380 trade fairs per year with 16 million visitors in total.
The meeting place for small and medium-sized enterprises
- Around 58,000 German companies are active as exhibitors in the B2B segment. Thereof, 52 percent belong to the manufacturing sector, followed by services (24 percent) and trade (20 percent).
- 87 percent of the exhibitors are medium-sized companies.
- SMEs will find almost 70 trade fair venues on their own doorstep, linking them to national and international markets
High importance in Germany’s national economy
- The trade fair industry contributes to the overall economic growth with around 28 billion euros per year.
- The organisation of trade fairs alone secures 230,000 jobs.
- The fair-induced tax revenues for an average trade fair year are around 4.5 billion euros.
World-class trade fair venues
- Four of the world's ten largest exhibition centres are located in Germany: Hanover, Frankfort-on-the-Main, Cologne and Dusseldorf.
- There are over 40 million square metres of exhibition hall space worldwide, over three million of which are in Germany.
- Some of the German trade fair organisers are among the top 10 in the international sales ranking.
Based on trade fair key figures before 2020.