Industries

Baden-Württemberg has more than 32,000 in the hospitality industry. This includes more than 6,800 accommodation facilities and approx. 25,500 restaurant businesses. In line with these figures, the restaurant industry employs the largest number of people. The majority of businesses in the hospitality industry, nearly 60 percent, have one to five employees and around 40 percent of companies generate revenues of up to EUR 100,000. Average gross wages and salaries per capita are higher for accommodation facilities than restaurants. Hotels, guesthouses and B&Bs pay the highest wages and salaries per capita of accommodation facilities. In the restaurant industry, employees in canteens and catering earn the most.

Baden-Württemberg had a total of 7,356 construction industry businesses in 2017*. The majority of construction businesses are situated in the Stuttgart region, the largest region of Baden-Württemberg by population. Nevertheless, the construction industry in the Stuttgart region has a relatively small proportion of employees. At 14, the average number of employees in the construction industry in the Stuttgart region is at a par with Baden-Württemberg as a whole. Therefore, the construction industry is made of a lot more small and medium-sized enterprises than the other manufacturing industries. The Stuttgart metropolitan area has a significantly higher value, being the location of several major construction firms. Revenues per company of slightly more than 2.5 million in the region confirm the above-average number of small to medium-sized enterprises compared to industry. Figures for the City of Stuttgart are also significantly higher in this area.

The number of construction projects in the Stuttgart region fell in the last few years, both in relation to resident and to non-residential construction. New residential and commercial space is become not just more scarce, but also more expensive. The costs per square metre for residential properties last fell significantly in Böblingen. In 2015, the price per square metre for residential property was highest in the Stuttgart metropolitan area at more than EUR 6,000. Also in this region, the highest rates are payable for non-residential properties** at nearly EUR 2,000 per square metre.

Last year, the administrative region of Böblingen recorded the largest increase in residential properties, and Ludwigsburg the largest increase in non-residential properties**.

*The statistics for construction comprise the main construction trade excluding the finishing trade, and include the construction of buildings, street and railway lines, underground pipeline construction and sewage plant construction, other underground construction, demolition work, preparatory construction site work and other specialised construction activities.
**Non-residential properties are, in particular, institutional buildings, office and administrative buildings, agricultural business premises, factory and workshop buildings, trade and storage buildings, hotels and restaurants

Every fifth manufacturing business in Baden-Württemberg is situated in the Stuttgart region. Accordingly, around 26 percent of employees work in this industry in the Stuttgart region. The largest companies based on employee figures in the Stuttgart region are in the Stuttgart metropolitan area and in the administrative district of Böblingen. The businesses in Göppingen only reach approx. 60 percent of the region’s average size. At more than 350 businesses, machine construction is the most represented industry sector in the Stuttgart region based on this figure. By contrast, in Baden-Württemberg as a whole, this rank is taken up by the manufacturers of metal products. The automotive industry only comes seventh with 77 businesses headquartered in the region. In spite of making up a proportion of only 5 percent of all manufacturing businesses in the Stuttgart region, vehicle construction nevertheless accounts for more than a third of the sector with more than 110,000 employees. In terms of revenues, the industry generates around EUR 65 billion in turnover and is thus responsible for more than half of revenues. Machine construction makes up a high proportion of the regional economy both in relation to the number of businesses and regarding employees, but its overall revenues lagged significantly behind those of vehicle construction at slightly more than EUR 26 billion.

In 2017, the largest number of visitors to Baden-Württemberg visited the Stuttgart region, followed by the Southern Upper Rhine region (Freiburg im Breisgau). However, they only stayed in Stuttgart for an average of around two nights. The Stuttgart region is thus on the lower end of the ranking for Baden-Württemberg in terms of the average length of stay, together with the Rhine-Neckar and Eastern Württemberg regions. These comparatively short stays are also due to the different structures of the regions. The Stuttgart and Rhine-Neckar regions are financial centres visited by many business travellers, whereas the Lake Constance and Black Forest regions tend to attract more holidaymakers and spa guests. More than every fourth guest to the Stuttgart region comes from abroad, which matches the average for the federal state. In addition to the export-focused economy, attractive targets for day trips and short breaks also play a key role. The Northern Black Forest, by contrast, attracts many domestic holidaymakers and only around 16 percent foreign guests.

Overall, the tourism industry in Baden-Württemberg saw around 21.6 million guests booking nearly 53 million overnight stays in 2017. Around 5 million guests who stayed overnight came from abroad. Visitors from Switzerland, the most important economic partner and geographically close to Baden-Württemberg, are the largest group at more than 20 percent of overnight stays by foreigners. In 2017, the Stuttgart region attracted around 4.4 million guests, nearly every fourth of which came from abroad. At 15 and 9 percent respectively, most foreign visitors were from the USA or from Switzerland, and nearly every fourth overnight stay by foreign guests was booked by these two nationalities. These two countries are also the most important foreign business partners of Baden-Württemberg and the Stuttgart region. Since 2013, the number of overnight stays by German guests in the Stuttgart region has increased by around 13 percent, that of foreign visitors by around 22 percent.

In 2014, the service industry in Baden-Württemberg was made up of more than 165,000 companies. This corresponds to a growth of 45 percent in 5 years. The number of people gainfully employment in the same period went up by around 275,000 or 30 percent to more than 1.2 million persons. Strong growth was recorded particularly in transport and in corporate services. Overall, the revenues of the service industry amounted to more than EUR 140 billion in 2014. It has thus grown by about one third since 2009. The greatest growth in revenues were recorded by publishing at close 90 percent. However, in terms of absolute growth, it only ranks sixth.

Retail purchasing power
With a retail purchasing power of EUR 19.8 billion, the Stuttgart region is one of the most attractive sites in Germany for retail companies together with Greater Munich and Rhine/Main. At more than 10,000 inhabitants, retail purchasing power in nearly all of the 62 municipalities is higher than the German average. More than a quarter of the purchasing power of Baden-Württemberg is located in the region. Retail purchasing power is particularly high in smaller and medium-sized towns near the state capital.

Revenues from stationary retail
The entire retail purchasing power in the region achieves revenues from stationary retail of EUR 16.6 billion, nominally EUR 367 million more than last year. A significant proportion of the current volume of purchase power (EUR 3.2 billion) is spent outside the region and in online and postal orders.

Centrality index
The centrality index shows local purchasing power increases and decreases. The medium-sized centres near the state capital have the region's highest values. This is often due to large sales areas in peripheral locations. In turn, other sites, especially close to those just mentioned, have lower values, which suggests deficits in their role as local amenities.

City comparison
Compared to other major cities in Germany, retail in Stuttgart is noticeably good. Especially in the city centre, companies are able to attract cross-regional purchasing power in spite of a multi-centre regional structure with many strong medium-sized centres. Retailers in Stuttgart generate around 22 percent more revenues than would be expected judging by the income of the inhabitants of Stuttgart. This shows that the state capital's city centre is the most important retail site in the South-West of Germany, and also attracts purchasing power from outside the region.