The turnover of Germany’s hospitality industry in 2023 increased by 1.1 percent in real terms compared to the previous year, according to recent figures from the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis).
But compared to the year 2019, the turnover was still 11.3 percent below the pre-COVID levels.
During the pandemic and the following energy crisis, Germany’s government temporarily reduced the value-added tax (VAT) rate for food in restaurants from 19 percent to 7 percent. Since the beginning of this year, however, the regular tax rate has been applied again.
