Not everywhere is crisis-proof

The level of sales of flowers and plants in Europe appears relatively stable overall, and this trend is continuing in the countries with the highest rates of consumption. However, there are big differences between the individual countries, according to a market overview compiled by the Co Concept agency for the International Plant Fair in Essen. Germany is by far the most important market for flowers and plants in Europe. The forecasts predict that spending on flowers and ornamental plants in 2011 will be between a half and one percentage point above the 2009 level. Compared with 2009, sales in 2010 fell by 2.2 per cent to € 8.512 bn. Britain comes next with just € 4.5 bn. The figure for France is some € 3.3 bn, and € 2.2 bn for Italy. The ranking looks different if per capita consumption is taken as the criterion: here Denmark and Norway head the field at € 156. Germany’s figure of € 102, which was reached as far back as 2002, takes second place, followed by € 96 in Austria and € 90 in the Netherlands. America, of course, represents the biggest market worldwide. It achieves a market volume of € 23 bn, which amounts to per capita consumption of € 74. Although the plant market is frequently seen as crisis-proof, the recent economic shockwaves in Europe have left their mark. For while the market has remained stable in the countries of northern Europe, consumption has gone down steeply in badly affected countries such as Greece, Spain and Portugal. By contrast, a positive demand for flowers and ornamental plants is manifesting itself again in the markets of the east European EU member states. Shifts are also occurring, not least within the product ranges. For, even independent of the economic situation, the consumption of cut flowers is falling in many countries, whereas the sale of pot plants is tending towards slight growth. This is explained in the sector by changes in consumer behaviour. Altogether the pot plant market with its continuing rates of growth is considered to be much more stable than the market for cut flowers. However, the year 2011 has put the sector in an unusually difficult situation. The European trade in house plants in the first half of 2011 was down ten per cent on the previous year’s level. Up till then the pot plant market with its continuous growth rates had proved far more stable than the cut flower market. The export statistics of the Netherlands, Europe’s key exporter, appear more positive, however: pot plant exports increased…