Press release No. 074 of 19 February 2021
Turnover in accommodation and food services, December 2020 (provisional results)
-14.7%, in real terms, on the previous month (calendar and seasonally adjusted)
-14.3%, in nominal terms, on the previous month (calendar and seasonally adjusted)
-72.3%, in real terms, on the same month a year earlier
-70.8%, in nominal terms, on the same month a year earlier
Turnover in accommodation and food services, 2020 (provisional results)
-39.0% on the previous year (in real terms)
-36.6% on the previous year (in nominal terms)
WIESBADEN – Turnover in accommodation and food services in Germany decreased by 39.0% in real terms (price adjusted) in 2020 compared with 2019. The decline was roughly 1 percentage point sharper than the estimated annual result suggested (press release no. 024 of 18 January 2021). The Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) also reports that, compared with November 2020, the calendar and seasonally adjusted turnover in accommodation and food services decreased by 14.7% in real terms (price adjusted) and by 14.3% in nominal terms (not price adjusted) in December 2020. Thus turnover was down 72.0% (in real terms, calendar and seasonally adjusted) compared with February 2020, the month before the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic in Germany.
The impact of the crisis is also visible in a year-on-year comparison. In December 2020, turnover in accommodation and food services fell by 72.3% in real terms and 70.8% in nominal terms compared with December 2019. The turnover reported by hotels and other accommodation establishments was 83.4% lower in real terms than in December 2019. Turnover in food and beverage services decreased by 66.8% in real terms from December 2019. Within the food and beverage service sector, the real turnover of caterers was 44.3% lower in December 2020 than in the same month of the previous year.
Methodological notes:
The differing comparative periods must be taken into account in all press releases on economic indicators. Short-term economic monitoring usually focuses on comparisons with the previous month or previous quarter. These reflect short-term economic trends. A comparison with the previous month/previous quarter can only be meaningfully interpreted using calendar and seasonally adjusted data. A comparison with the previous year is intended to offer a long-term comparison of levels and is not subject to seasonal fluctuations. Due to strong temporary decreases and increases during the current coronavirus crisis, the results of month-on-month/quarter-on-quarter and year-on-year comparisons may differ considerably. Both of the two perspectives are important: what is the short-term economic trend compared with the previous month/previous quarter, and how far has the catching-up process gone compared with the previous year’s level? In order to provide a direct comparison with the pre-crisis level, all press releases on short-term indicators available in calendar and seasonally adjusted form now include a comparison with February 2020 or the fourth quarter of 2019.
The survey covers accommodation and food services enterprises with a turnover of at least 150,000 euros per year. Destatis takes into account late notifications from the enterprises surveyed and therefore continuously updates the first proven results.
The revision tables provide information on the impact of the updates on the results.
The results of accommodation and food services statistics may differ from those of tourism statistics, especially in the summer months, because turnover in accommodation establishments does not always correspond to the dates of overnight stays. Methodological differences may also lead to different results.
