Trade Show Statistics for Industrial Exhibitors: Germany, Spain and the Global Outlook (2026)
Verified 2025-26 trade show figures for machine builders: exhibitors, visitors, foreign share and outlook from AUMA, UFI and AFE, each linked to its source.
Written by Eduardo Fuentevilla Blanco
Robotics Engineer at Maedcore · Robotics Engineer LinkedIn ↗
Key Takeaways
- ► Germany held 304 trade fairs in 2025 with 191,990 exhibitors and 12.7 million visitors (AUMA, 2025 final results); 66% of exhibitors came from abroad.
- ► AUMA's Q1 2026 forecast points to 2.3% fewer exhibitors and 4.6% less rented space than the previous editions, while visitors are forecast up 0.9%.
- ► In Spain, AFE members reported 472 trade fairs and 64,236 exhibitors in 2025 (+6.9% on 2024).
- ► UFI's July 2026 barometer (466 organisers and venues in 59 countries) found that 27% expect revenue growth above 5%, down from the more optimistic January outlook for activity.
- ► Public statistics describe the fair market, not what a machine builder gets from a stand. Lead cost and conversion for industrial exhibitors have no neutral public source yet.
If you sell machines at trade fairs, the market numbers say three things. The fairs are big and mostly international: Germany’s 304 fairs in 2025 had 191,990 exhibitors, and 66% of exhibitors at the leading fairs came from abroad. Spain’s exhibitor count grew to 64,236 in 2025. And the outlook for 2026 is cautious, not collapsing. This page collects the figures we could trace to the organisation that measured them, each with year and population, so you can cite them without chasing the original.
The figures in brief
| Figure | Year | Who measured | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| 304 trade fairs, 191,990 exhibitors, 12.7 million visitors in Germany | 2025 | AUMA, all German fairs | AUMA key figures |
| 66% of exhibitors and over 33% of visitors from abroad | 2025 | AUMA | AUMA final statement |
| Q1 2026 forecast: exhibitors -2.3%, rented space -4.6%, visitors +0.9% | 2026 | AUMA | AUMA final statement |
| About €30 billion a year contributed to the German economy | 2026 | Prognos for AUMA | AUMA release |
| 472 fairs, 64,236 exhibitors in Spain (+6.9%) | 2025 | AFE members | AFE |
| 27% of organisers expect revenue growth above 5%, 38% stable | 2026 | UFI, 466 companies, 59 countries | UFI |
How big is the German trade fair market for exhibitors?
Germany held 304 trade fairs in 2025 with 191,990 exhibitors, 6,907,200 m² of rented stand space and 12,748,000 visitors (AUMA, 2025 results). The 158 national and international fairs in that total accounted for 150,260 exhibitors and 8.33 million visitors. AUMA reports visitor numbers up 1.9% on the previous editions of the same fairs.
The sector’s economic weight is documented separately. A study by Prognos for AUMA (published January 2026) put the annual contribution to the German economy at about €30 billion, with at least 280,000 jobs secured and about €5.4 billion in tax revenue. It is based on surveys of more than 33,700 visitors and 17,700 exhibitors at 30 fairs in ten venues, run between September 2024 and October 2025 (AUMA).
How international are the visitors and exhibitors?
At German fairs, 66% of all exhibitors and over 33% of all visitors came from abroad in 2025. More than 99,000 international exhibitors took part (+1.5%) and almost 2.8 million international visitors (+2.9%) (AUMA, 4 June 2026). China supplied over 18% of exhibitors, Italy about 11%, and Spain 4.5%.
For a Spanish machine builder, that last number is the useful one: Spanish companies are a small slice of exhibitors at German fairs, and every buyer you want to reach is also being courted by the Chinese and Italian builders on the next stand.
What does the 2026 outlook look like?
AUMA’s Q1 2026 forecast, compared with the previous editions, shows exhibitors down 2.3%, rented space down 4.6% and visitors up 0.9% (AUMA, 4 June 2026). That is a forecast for one quarter, not a full-year result, and 2026 also has 319 fairs against 304 in 2025.
The global organisers’ mood cooled between two surveys. In UFI’s 36th Barometer (survey closed December 2025, 378 companies in 57 countries), 44% expected home-market activity to grow by more than 5% in 2026 and 8% expected a decline of more than 5%. In the 37th (8 July 2026, 466 companies in 59 countries), those shares were 26% and 21% (UFI, January 2026; UFI, July 2026). In the July edition, 27% expect annual revenue growth above 5% and 38% expect stable revenue. The respondents are organisers, venues and suppliers, so this is the supply side’s view, not the exhibitors’.
How is the Spanish trade fair sector doing?
AFE members reported 472 trade fairs and events with a commercial exhibition in 2025, up from 445 in 2024. They had 64,236 exhibitors (+6.9%) and 4,065,710 m² of net occupied space (+2%) (AFE, 2 June 2026). AFE reports 6.8 million visitors for 2025, but its own 2024 figure was higher than that, so we do not quote the visitor growth rate; check with AFE before citing it.
How are fairs changing their format?
In UFI’s January 2026 survey, 37% of respondents saw a definite need to update show formats and 58% said it depends on the show. The top improvement priorities were visitor participation (22%) and interactive learning formats (22%) (UFI, 36th Barometer). For an exhibitor, that is a signal that organisers expect stands to show more than a machine on a plinth.
What these statistics do not tell you
The sources above measure fairs, not the return on a stand. Cost per lead, conversion rates and ROI per euro for industrial exhibitors circulate widely, but the versions we found trace to paid exhibitor surveys or to vendor blogs without a public method, so we left them out. For a worked cost model of a stand against a virtual showroom, see Virtual Showroom vs. Industrial Trade Show Booth.
Method and sources
Last verified: 2 November 2026. We read each figure on the publishing organisation’s own page and give the year and population next to it. Percentages marked “forecast” are the organisation’s projections, not results. Where two pages from the same organisation disagree (AUMA gives 192,000 exhibitors rounded in its press release and 191,990 in its table), we use the table.
- AUMA, final statement for 2025, 4 June 2026
- AUMA, German trade fair industry in figures, 2025 results
- AUMA, Prognos economic impact study, 6 January 2026
- UFI Global Exhibition Barometer, 36th edition, 29 January 2026
- UFI Global Exhibition Barometer, 37th edition, 8 July 2026
- AFE, 11th Global Exhibitions Day, 2 June 2026
Writers are welcome to cite this page; link to the original source of each figure as well.
Related reading
About the Author
Robotics Engineer
For over a decade, I have been driven by a single mission: leveraging AI and robotics to build a world of automated production. I believe that by creating self-sufficient systems, we can empower people to refocus on what truly matters—their families and their passions. My expertise spans from winning prestigious European startup competitions to architecting complex, integrated hardware and software projects. I specialize in bridging the gap between today's industrial challenges and tomorrow's autonomous solutions.
Frequently Asked Questions
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