The sector

In 2009, Germany experienced its most severe recession of the post-war period. This was also clearly felt by the glass industry, which closed the year with a 12% fall in revenue from EUR 8.47 billion in 2008 to EUR 7.45 billion in 2009. Foreign sales declined by 14.5% to EUR 2.86 billion. The domestic market recorded shrinkage of 10.4%, with domestic revenue falling to EUR 4.59 billion. The individual segments of the glass industry were affected to a greatly varying extent by the slump in sales revenue. The number of employees in the glass industry as a whole fell by 2.4% due to the weak business development (down to 48,223).