Germans' Purchasing Power Climbs 2.8 Percent in 2018

by | Dec 12, 2017

Bruchsal, Germany, December 12, 2017 “ Germans' 2018 purchasing power will rise to €22,992 per person according to the GfK study released today. This amounts to a nominal per-person increase of 2.8 percent, or €633.

GfK forecasts a total purchasing power of €1,893.8 bil. for Germany in 2018. This is a nominal per-capita increase of 2.8 percent or €633 over the revised forecasted values from last year. In 2018, Germans will conse-quently have an average per-capita purchasing power of €22,992 available for consumer purchases, accommodation, recreation and saving.

Purchasing power is a measure of the population’s disposable net income, including government subsidies such as pension payments, unemployment assistance and child benefit. The 2018 purchasing power increase is based on growing salaries in many industries as well as a stable employment market. A rise in pensions is also anticipated for 2018. But the real-value amount that remains from this nominal purchasing power increase depends on how consumer prices develop in the coming year.

Regional purchasing power distribution
There are few changes to the 2018 distribution of purchasing power at the level of Germany's federal states. An exception is Berlin's overtaking of Bremen to assume tenth place. The other eastern federal states are also developing positively, with purchasing power index increases between 0.7 and 1.1 percent compared to the previous year. Even so, they are still sig-nificantly below the level of the western federal states.

North Rhine-Westphalia, Schleswig-Holstein and Bremen have the largest decreases, with index losses between 0.7 and 0.8 percent. But this is only a relative decline, because the index represents deviations from the na-tional average. Nominal per-capita purchasing power will rise next year in all of Germany's federal states.

Purchasing power in Germany's federal states

2018 ranking (2017)

federal state

inhabitants

GfK Purchasing Power 2018 per inhabitant in €

purchasing power index*

1

Hamburg

1,798,654

25,242

109.8

2

Bavaria

12,884,983

25,107

109.2

3

Baden-Württemberg

10,925,081

24,732

107.6

4

Hesse

6,193,150

24,329

105.8

5

Schleswig-Holstein

2,876,873

23,020

100.1

6

North Rhine-Westphalia

17,875,813

22,777

99.1

7

Rhineland-Palatinate

4,062,075

22,587

98.2

8

Lower Saxony

7,948,507

22,475

97.8

9

Saarland

997,754

21,620

94.0

10 (11)

Berlin

3,550,948

21,033

91.5

11 (10)

Bremen

676,256

20,969

91.2

12

Brandenburg

2,487,511

20,938

91.1

13

Saxony

4,078,397

19,727

85.8

14

Thuringia

2,160,943

19,669

85.5

15

Saxony-Anhalt

2,239,428

19,456

84.6

16

Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania

1,612,585

19,356

84.2

Purchasing power in Germany's districts
As in previous years, Germany's highest purchasing power average can be found in the Bavarian rural district of Starnberg: With €33,102 per person, inhabitants of this district have around 44 percent more purchasing power than the national average. There are three changes to the rankings of Germany's top ten urban and rural districts. Erlangen falls one spot to ninth place, switching positions with Dachau, while the rural district of Miesbach moves into the top ten, up from twelfth place. Miesbach ousts the district of Stormarn, which drops from tenth to seventeenth place.

With €18,157 per person, the rural district of Görlitz once again brings up the rear among Germany's districts. Inhabitants of this district have around 21 percent less than the national average, which, in 2018, is represented by the rural district of Günzburg.


 

2018 ranking (2017)

urban/rural district (UD/RD)

inhabitants

GfK Purchasing Power 2018 per inhabitant in €

purchasing power index*

1

Starnberg RD

134,308

33,102

144.0

2

Hochtaunuskreis RD

234,574

32,137

139.8

3

Munich RD

341,747

31,687

137.8

4

Munich UD

1,452,826

30,998

134.8

5

Main-Taunus-Kreis RD

234,424

30,537

132.8

6

Ebersberg RD

138,523

30,179

131.3

7

Fürstenfeldbruck RD

215,178

28,574

124.3

8 (9)

Dachau RD

149,952

28,156

122.5

9 (8)

Erlangen UD

109,501

27,875

121.2

10 (12)

Miesbach RD

98,753

27,553

119.8

source: GfK Purchasing Power Germany 2018                                *index per inhabitant; 100 = national average

 

Germany's most populous urban districts
The nation's 25 most populous urban districts alone comprise a fifth of Germany's total purchasing power. But not all the country's large cities have above-average purchasing power: When it comes to per-capita purchasing power, the capital city of Berlin lies eight percent below the national average, with Dortmund and Dresden coming in at a similar level. Even further behind is the city of Leipzig, which has 12 percent less than the national average.

Urban districts with more than 500,000 inhabitants

2018 ranking

urban district (UD)

inhabitants

total 2018 purchasing power in mil. €

per-capita 2018 purchasing power in €

purchasing power index*

286

Berlin UD

                         3,550,948  

74,686.4

21,033

91.5

52

Hamburg UD

                         1,798.654  

45,401.6

25,242

109.8

4

Munich UD

                         1,452,826  

45,035.3

30,998

134.8

79

Cologne UD

                         1,070,357  

26,221.1

24,498

106.5

31

Frankfurt am Main UD

                            731,009  

19,199.8

26,265

114.2

39

Stuttgart UD

                            626,144  

16,197.5

25,869

112.5

18

Düsseldorf UD

                            611,302  

16,546.0

27,067

117.7

279

Dortmund UD

                            585,352  

12,345.3

21,090

91.7

192

Essen UD

                            583,768  

13,042.6

22,342

97.2

334

Leipzig UD

                            564,305  

11,356.8

20,125

87.5

259

Bremen UD

                            563,257  

12,067.8

21,425

93.2

296

Dresden UD

                            543,501  

11,385.1

20,948

91.1

110

Nuremberg UD

                            510,405  

12,189.1

23,881

103.9

source: GfK Purchasing Power Germany 2018                *index per inhabitant; 100 = national average

 

Purchasing power density an important indicator of retail potential
The purchasing power totals demonstrate that Germany's most populous cities and particularly the large metropolitan regions are indispensable target markets for retailers and service providers. Purchasing power density”the available purchasing power in millions of euros per square kilometer”is very high in metropolises such as Berlin, Hamburg and Munich, but also in the Ruhr region, the greater metropolitan area of Stuttgart and Frankfurt/Main. A high purchasing power density indicates that companies can tap significant purchasing power potential within a small geographic area even just among their residential target group.

 

About the study
GfK Purchasing Power is defined as the sum of the net income of the population according to place of residence. These purchasing power figures take into account income related to self- and non-self employment as well as capital gains and government subsidies, such as unemployment assistance, child benefit and pension contributions. Not included in these calculations are expenditures related to living expenses, insurance, rent and associated costs such as utilities (gas and/or electricity), clothing and savings plans.

As a result, a nominal increase in purchasing power does not mean that each individual has more money in real terms at his or her disposal if rising costs for the above-mentioned expenditures exceed the purchasing power increase. Also important to note is the fact that the purchasing power of a given region reflects an average value among the inhabitants living there rather than the purchasing power of specific individuals, households or the associated income distribution and gap between rich and poor.

Calculations are carried out on the basis of reported income and earnings, statistics relating to state benefits as well as forecasts provided by economic institutes. GfK releases the purchasing power prognosis for the new year in January. As of that time, GfK purchasing power data is available for all of Germany’s urban and rural districts, municipalities and postcodes. The purchasing power data for street segments is updated in the second half of the year.

Applications
Regional GfK purchasing power data serves as an important basis of planning for sales and marketing endeavors among companies from a diverse range of industries. These applications require an accurate illustration of the regional distribution of purchasing power. The focus of the study is consequently not on tracking data trends over the years, but rather on providing a prognosis that reflects this regional distribution. It is therefore not advisable to compare current figures with data from previous years.

Additional information on GfK’s regional market data can be found here.

Print-quality illustrations can be found here.

 

About GfK

GfK connects data and science. Innovative research solutions provide answers for key business questions around consumers, markets, brands and media “ now and in the future. As a research and analytics partner, GfK promises its clients all over the world Growth from Knowledge. For more information, please visit www.gfk.com or follow GfK on Twitter: https://twitter.com/GfK

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