SHERIDAN, WYOMING - June 2, 2026 -- Germany's home improvement and garden retail sector reported a gross revenue decline of 0.9 percent in the first quarter of 2026 compared to the same period a year earlier, with the like-for-like figure narrowing further to minus 0.5 percent, according to data published by BHB - Handelsverband Heimwerken, Bauen und Garten e.V., the German-speaking region's leading DIY trade association. Austria recorded a modest increase of 0.5 percent over the same period. Switzerland posted an overall decline of 3.2 percent, though adjusted for floor space the market turned positive at plus 1.0 percent, a pattern the association attributed to national one-off factors rather than structural weakness.
Germany's Q1 Revenue Stabilizes After Sharper Prior-Year Drop
Germany's home improvement and garden retail sector generated gross revenues of 4.53 billion euros in the first quarter of 2026. The decline of 0.9 percent overall and 0.5 percent on a like-for-like basis compares directly with a minus 4.0 percent result recorded in Q1 2025. The improvement is significant. It comes despite persistent external pressure on consumer spending and an unfavorable weather pattern - low sunlight and heavy frost - that suppressed early seasonal purchases across outdoor and garden categories.
Iran War and Rising Energy Prices Weigh on Consumer Confidence
BHB's managing director pointed to two primary factors that interrupted what had been an emerging positive trend in sales momentum from late 2025. The conflict in Iran disrupted supply chains and drove up prices for oil-based fuels in particular, compressing household discretionary budgets. The second factor was weather. Together, they pushed back the stabilization of consumer sentiment that the sector had been banking on heading into the new year. The association's leadership called on policymakers to restore predictability and reliability as preconditions for rebuilding household confidence in spending.
Leisure Goods and Automotive Accessories Lead German Category Gains
Category performance in Germany was sharply uneven. Leisure and seasonal goods outperformed the rest of the assortment by a wide margin, climbing 18.3 percent in the quarter. Household goods rose 9.4 percent and automotive accessories gained 9.3 percent. These three segments pulled in the opposite direction from the broader market. Garden furniture fell 12.4 percent, tiles dropped 10.2 percent, and garden equipment declined 7.4 percent - all categories where weather exposure and project-planning cycles tend to amplify seasonal volatility.
Austria Holds Positive Territory; Automotive and Irrigation Drive the Gain
Austria's home improvement and garden retail market posted gross revenues of 644.1 million euros in Q1 2026, with the 0.5 percent overall increase making it the only DACH market in positive territory for the quarter. Category performance mirrored Germany's automotive strength, with automotive accessories up 17.2 percent. Garden equipment and irrigation systems gained 17.1 percent. On the downside, tiles fell 8.9 percent and electrical goods dropped 8.2 percent. Like-for-like data for Austria is unavailable for the period following a decision by GfK Austria to suspend publication of that figure until further notice.
Switzerland Returns to Like-for-Like Growth Despite Headline Decline
Switzerland reported Q1 2026 gross revenues of 694.3 million Swiss francs, down 3.2 percent overall year on year. The headline number, the association noted, reflects national one-off effects rather than underlying market deterioration. On an adjusted floor-space basis, the Swiss market moved back into growth at plus 1.0 percent. Automotive accessories and the technology/office/entertainment segment posted gains of 3.7 and 3.0 percent respectively. Garden furniture fell 18.1 percent and home/decoration dropped 16.8 percent.
BHB Calls on Policymakers to Build Conditions for Recovery
BHB frames the Q1 2026 result as a demonstration of the German market's structural resilience rather than a signal of recovery. The sector employs around 490,000 people in Germany, and annual gross revenues for the full German market reached approximately 20.58 billion euros in 2025. The association's position is that operators, buyers, and their supply partners need a stable policy environment - one that restores planning certainty for consumers - before the kind of sustained revenue growth the sector was approaching at the close of 2025 can resume. External shocks, whether geopolitical or meteorological, have proven capable of reversing early-stage improvements quickly.