According to the Fachverband der Hersteller elastischer Bodenbeläge e. V. (FEB), a total of 44.9 million square metres of elastic floor coverings were sold in 2024, down 3.5% from the previous year. After a sharp contraction in 2022, the latest figures indicate that the crisis in the construction sector for resilient floor coverings has bottomed out.
Within the DACH region, Germany is close to average with a 3.9% decline, while Austria shows a larger decline with -4.9%. However, Switzerland is an exception, with growth of 7.1% in 2024.
Resilient safety floors and recovery in linoleum and homogeneous PVC
Safety floors are proving crisis-resistant: after years of stable sales, this category grew by 2.9% in 2024, the strongest increase within resilient floor coverings.
Linoleum and homogeneous PVC flooring also showed slight growth again. The linoleum, rubber and plastic flooring category recorded an increase of 0.5%, while homogeneous PVC coverings performed slightly better at 0.6%.
Decrease in heterogeneous PVC and CV floors
Not all product groups were able to benefit from the recovery. Heterogeneous PVC flooring declined by 11.4%, cushioned vinyl by 6.5% and PVC design flooring by 3.9%. In particular, click flooring and variants with a thinner wear layer showed losses. Nevertheless, the design flooring category with a dryback wear layer of at least 0.7 mm saw remarkable growth of 6.9%.
Outlook and opportunities
Although the market as a whole is still in the minus, some product segments show positive developments. FEB expects the number of building permits for residential construction to increase in 2025, which will also boost construction activity. However, the impact of this on completions will only become visible from 2026 onwards.
Only German state with rising building permits
According to German statistics office Destatis, the number of building permits issued in Germany fell for the third consecutive year. In 2024, 215,900 new homes were licensed, down 16.8% from the previous year - the lowest level since 2010. New construction of single-family and multi-family houses was hit particularly hard. Bremen is an exception with a 36.5% increase to 1,819 dwellings, the strongest growth among all the states.
Bremen boosts housing construction
Özlem Ünsal, senator for Construction, Urban Development and Mobility in Bremen, stressed that the city is actively promoting accelerated housing development. Through targeted measures, investments are being stimulated, permit processes accelerated and cost-increasing regulations reduced.
One of the spearheads of this strategy is more efficient processing of building applications. With digitised processes and closer cooperation between developers, authorities and policymakers, bottlenecks are addressed early on, allowing projects to be realised faster.
FEB states: 'Bremen is an example that other federal states should follow.'
More information:
FEB
www.feb-ev.com
FEB members satisfied with 2024 result: