Wiesbaden (dpa -Afx) – restaurants close, for more and more people, eating food becomes luxury: the hospitality industry in Germany slipped even deeper into the crisis in the first half of this year. The sales have decreased by 3.7 percent compared to the weak period of the previous year compared to the weak period of the previous year, as the Federal Statistical Office reports.
Only significant price increases saved the revenues to the hosts and hoteliers: the sales were nominal only 0.1 percent lower than a year earlier. With a real decline of 4.1 percent, the catering was hit harder than hotels and other accommodation companies that only had to cope with a decline of 2.6 percent.
Higher sales tax on food
The full VAT rate of 19 percent, which has been valid since 2024 since the beginning of 2024. According to the will of the new federal government, this sentence will be reduced to the level of the Corona period of 7 percent next year.
After a short intermediate high at Easter, the situation continued to cloud in June. Sales were real 5.9 percent below the same month and, including the price increases, 3.4 percent lower than one year ago./ceb/dp/jha