“Trends 2025/26”: From artificial intelligence to sustainability
Almost 200 trade fairs in the first half of 2025 show growth
Another 130 trade fairs to go in Germany until the end of 2025
Berlin, 12 August 2025 | The trade fair business of the future is and will remain international. This is one of seven observations in the German trade fair industry, according to the recently published AUMA annual publication "Trends 2025/2026" by the Association of the German Trade Fair Industry (AUMA).
The fourth edition of AUMA Trends titled "Change is our constant companion" provides an in-sight into many topics of the industry doing the splits between challenges, upheaval and opportunities. From surveys, analyses, observations and discussions, the 25-headed AUMA team has distilled insights into seven trends within the German trade fair industry. An update is given on the transformation of the industry concerning sustainability with regard to the feasibility of EU directives. The successful #MesseMonthMarch social media campaign tells the story of the industry's new self-perception.
- Jörn Holtmeier, Managing Director of the Association of the German Trade Fair Industry AUMA: “Despite crises, cost pressure and competition: in the midst of global upheaval, the German trade fair industry is proving that trade fairs will remain central places for economic exchange and the joint shaping of markets in the future. In a transforming world, trade fairs offer stability, trust and innovation. Genuine encounters, openness and global exchange are the key to the future of Germany as a trade fair centre.”
Key figures for the first half of the year up
The 192 trade fairs held in Germany in the first half of 2025 show a slight increase in key figures compared to the respective previous events, according to statistics of AUMA. The number of exhibiting companies rose by almost one percent (to over 116,000), the number of visitors by more than three percent (to almost 7.2 million) and the amount of stand space rented by almost two percent (to more than 4.2 million square metres). Trade fairs in the fields of security and disaster control, medical technology and the construction sector have developed particularly positively.
At least 117 trade fairs are scheduled for the second half of the year – led by the world's largest trade fair for interactive games, Gamescom (20 to 24 August) in Cologne, and for motorhomes, the Caravan Salon (29 August to 7 September) in Düsseldorf. As of today, 309 trade fairs are scheduled to take place throughout the year – more than a dozen of which are new events.
AUMA is the Association of the German Trade Fair Industry, the umbrella organisation for the German trade fair industry, based in Berlin. It represents the interests of all large and medium-sized trade fair companies in Germany, international organisers in Germany and associations representing exhibitors, service companies, small trade fair organisers and visitors, both internationally and nationally.
Trade fairs in Germany secure more than 230,000 jobs. No fewer than 70 exhibition venues between the North Sea and Lake Constance make Germany unique in the world of trade fairs. Two-thirds of all leading trade fairs in the global economy take place in this country. International, national and regional trade fairs in Germany attract over 235,000 exhibiting companies and 16 million visitors at peak times. On average, 65 per cent of exhibitors and around 35 per cent of trade visitors at all leading trade fairs come from abroad. All this makes Germany the number one trade fair location in the world.
