Germany faces record business closures and shifting travel trends

Germany is experiencing significant economic shifts, characterized by a rise in business closures and changing travel patterns. According to data from the Federal Statistical Office, multi-day trips in Germany fell by 1.1 percent in 2025 compared to 2024, totaling 274 million. However, domestic travel reached a record high of 169 million, a 3.9 percent increase, driven largely by a 10.5 percent rise in business travel. Conversely, international trips dropped by 8.3 percent.

Simultaneously, Germany is facing its highest level of business closures in nearly 20 years. An analysis by Creditreform and the Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research (ZEW) reports that 187,744 enterprises ceased operations last year, a nearly 10 percent increase from the previous year. The crisis is widespread, impacting the gastronomy and hospitality sectors, where approximately 15,000 establishments closed, and the healthcare sector, which saw roughly 11,000 closures. In healthcare, the number of closures is nearly double the levels seen in 2008, often due to physicians retiring without successors.