At the European press conference in preparation for the 39th International Dental Show (IDS), Mark Stephen Pace, chairman of the board of the Association of the German Dental Industry (VDDI), was nevertheless confident about the future economic situation of the German dental industry in view of the significant decline in sales in the 2020 financial year.
The association’s trust survey from the beginning of 2021 shows the following picture: In 2020, for the first time since 2015, the VDDI member companies generated a total turnover of less than €5 billion (€4.82bn). It was 13.1% below the 2019 result. Almost €2.92bnof this was earned on the export markets, a decrease of 16.5%.
“The companies made great efforts to ensure that the declines were not higher, in particular by taking measures to increase efficiency and cut costs,” explained Pace.
The domestic market developed much more robustly than the export markets. Domestic sales in 2020 amounted to €1.90bn, 7.3% below the comparable sales figure for the previous year. Slightly more than two thirds of the companies surveyed by the Dental Association posted lower sales in Germany than in 2019.
According to Pace, some companies will still have to go back to 2019 levels.
The companies’ expectations for the current financial year and IDS year 2021 now speak of a positive general mood. The 51% of the member companies forecast sales increases for the entire trade fair year and a further 42% forecast sales at the previous year’s level.
The results of the recently evaluated VDDI economic barometer from the spring also confirm the positive assessments and expectations of the German dental industry for the current year 2021.
In terms of domestic sales for the first half of 2021, almost 69% of those surveyed expect higher sales compared to the same period of the previous year. For the export business, almost 70% of the participants anticipate sales increases in this period.
Pace, continued: “Not all regions will recover equally quickly, some economic regions are still busy dealing with the COVID-19 crisis. The health systems are under high pressure, but we can assume that in the medium term the vaccination successes will lead to recovery there too. General health awareness and a resulting demand for health services will increase. “
The 39th IDS from 22 to 25 September 2021 will play an important role in the further progress of oral and dental health.
