Drop in DIY sales in Germany

The sales figure of the do-it-yourself sector in Germany went down in the year 2002 by 0.6 per cent to € 16.76 bn in comparison with the previous year. The result for the entire 2 505 stores with a retail area in excess of 1 000 m² included in the survey came to a shortfall of 3.1 per cent in like-for-like terms. These figures have been announced by the German trade association BHB. For the current year the association expects a drop of around two per cent. The smaller DIY stores, which are listed separately, reported sales of € 4.27 bn, amounting to a drop of 4.1 per cent. This means that the volume of the entire DIY and building market came to a total of € 21.03 bn and so remained static at the same level as the previous year.