According to preliminary figures released by the German Federal Statistical Office, German glass industry revenue was up 2.2% in 2018 compared to the previous 12 months. A particularly welcome development was a 3.9% growth in glass industry employees to some 55,800 in total.

The German glass industry’s combined revenue increased to approximately €9.88 billion (2017: €9.66 billion). Domestic sales growth was moderate at 1.2%, while exports were slightly lower than the 2017 figure at 3.5%.

BV Glas reports similar developments across all glass sectors. Germany’s flat glass manufacturers were able to sustain positive momentum after a strong first six months, closing out the year with 5% growth and revenues of €1.06 billion. Similarly, the flat glass processing sector enjoyed a profitable year, with overall revenue growth of 1.3% to €3.89 billion.

The special glass industry also reported growth, posting total revenue of €1.54 billion, which is 5.5% higher than 2017 results. Conversely, glassfibre manufacturers experienced a minor downturn of 0.4% to €968 million.

The German hollow glass industry involves the container and tableware sectors. After a positive first six months of 2018, driven primarily by developments in the tableware business, the segment closed out the year with 1.8% revenue growth to €2.44 billion, compared to €2.39 billion in 2017.