GERMANY - Turnover in the German kitchen furniture industry grew by a double-digit rate in May, both domestically and abroad. According to statics published by the German Kitchen Furniture Industry Association (VdDK) on the basis of figures from the Federal Statistical Office.

Domestic sales generated in Germany increased by 14.2% to € 271.5 million. In Exports, the reached 22.1% to € 206.7 million. At the same time, sales with the eurozone improved by 25.5% to € 160.4 million. Total sales grew by 17.5% to € 478.2 million in May.

This was by far the highest monthly growth in the year to date. However, in this context, the VdDK points out that due to the postponement of public holidays, two working days more were incurred in the current reporting month than in the previous year.
For the first five months this represents an increase of 4.7%, compared to the same period 2018, to € 2.121 billion.

While sales in February (-0.2%) remained stable at the previous year's level, January (+ 3.5%), March (+ 1.6%) and April (+ 1.1%) reported comparatively lower rates . In the accumulated period, sales in Germany of € 1.248 billion exceeded the previous year's level by 3.6%. Export sales increased by 6.4% to € 864.0 million. From January to May, growth of +9.0% to € 672.9 million in the eurozone was higher than in total exports.