Berlin, 21 May 2025 – Despite Germany’s persistently difficult economic situation and ongoing political uncertainties both domestically and internationally, the factoring industry once again achieved solid growth in 2024. Members of the German Factoring Association (Deutscher Factoring-Verband e.V.) increased their turnover by 3.7 per cent to €398.8 billion. This underscores the industry’s continuing role as a reliable stabiliser in corporate finance – particularly in foreign trade.
While Germany’s inflation-adjusted GDP declined slightly by 0.2 per cent in 2024, the factoring ratio (volume of receivables purchased in relation to GDP) remained stable at 9.3 per cent. In total, 106,850 companies used factoring as a financing solution.
Export factoring drives growth
Growth in the reporting year was primarily driven by international factoring: with a volume of €118.3 billion and an increase of 8.9 per cent, it proved to be a dynamic growth driver. Export factoring in particular performed strongly, rising by 9.7 per cent to €112.8 billion – contrary to general foreign trade trends – thus providing clear support for Germany’s export economy. In contrast, import factoring declined slightly by 3.5 per cent to €5.6 billion. Domestic business also grew, albeit more moderately by 1.7 per cent to €280.5 billion, reflecting continued consumer restraint and weak investment activity in the domestic market.
In 2024, trade remained the strongest sector in terms of factoring turnover, followed by healthcare and the food industry. Among the various forms of factoring, in-house factoring continued to dominate with a 65 per cent market share, while full-service factoring declined slightly to 27 per cent. Maturity factoring remained virtually unchanged at 8 per cent.
The majority of factoring clients continue to come from the SME sector: companies with annual revenues of up to €10 million accounted for 93.9 per cent of the customer base – a decline of 2.8 percentage points. However, in terms of turnover, large corporations dominated, generating nearly 60 per cent of the total volume with only around 2.5 per cent of the customer base. SMEs increased their share of turnover to 24.2 per cent.
Outlook for 2025: challenging
Despite the persistently difficult economic climate, the industry overall performed better than expected. However, the mood has further deteriorated according to the annual economic survey: The association’s members rated their outlook for 2025 with an average score of 2.7 – the lowest mark since surveys began in 2007, and even worse than during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“That we were able to achieve solid growth in a year marked by political debate, rising insolvencies and economic stagnation speaks volumes for the resilience and relevance of factoring as a financing instrument,” said Stefan Wagner, spokesman of the German factoring association’s executive board.
The industry is hoping for political momentum, structural reforms and, above all, noticeable deregulation to inject new dynamism into the domestic market. Factoring is expected to remain a reliable tool for securing liquidity in 2025 as well. The sector is prepared to contribute to the stabilisation of the German economy – ideally strengthened by new growth impulses from a new federal government.
The German Factoring Association currently represents 43 member companies, which, according to independent studies, account for around 97 per cent of the factoring volume organised through industry associations in Germany, making these figures representative of the entire German factoring market.
Contact:
German Factoring Association (Deutscher Factoring-Verband e.V.) Dr. Alexander M. Moseschus, Managing Director
Behrenstr. 73, 10117 Berlin
Phone: +49 30 20 654 654, Fax: +49 30 979 963 00
Email: kontakt@factoring.de
