Job vacancies in the German trade sector
Job vacancies in the German trade sector stood at 109.6 thousands in Q2 2026, according to Institute for Employment Research (IAB), Eurostat and KfW Research / ifo Institute. It is one of the indicators in the Job vacancies and skilled labour shortage table (Value · Quarterly), with a complete series running from Q4 2010 to Q2 2026. The complete series with an interactive chart, free to download.
This indicator in the Job vacancies and skilled labour shortage table
| Indicator | Q2-2026 | Q1-2026 | Q4-2025 | Q3-2025 | Q2-2025 | Q1-2025 | Q4-2024 | Q3-2024 | Q2-2024 | Q1-2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Germany total | 1,023.4 | 1,153.2 | 1,258.9 | 1,039.8 | 1,058.4 | 1,158.4 | 1,568.3 | 1,278.8 | 1,375.2 | 1,597.4 | |
| Trade | 109.6 | 121.4 | 148.3 | 99.6 | 113.2 | 115.2 | 171.8 | 133 | 171.3 | 181.6 | |
| Transport and storage | 59 | 55.8 | 68 | 64.2 | 61.8 | 71.1 | 95.5 | 84.2 | 68.2 | 80.7 |
Understanding job vacancies in the German trade sector
Commercial distribution roles tracked here cover establishments engaged in wholesale distribution, retail trade, and the maintenance and repair of motor vehicles. The series encompasses all open positions sought from outside candidates, incorporating postings lodged with statutory labor exchanges alongside roles advertised through online storefronts, commercial job boards, and in-store notices. Openings in transportation and logistics, food and hospitality, consumer goods manufacturing, and corporate holding companies are excluded, as are internal reassignments. Within the sectoral classification, this series isolates commercial trade from manufacturing, construction, and extraction, capturing workforce requirements across wholesale and retail distribution channels.
Reading trade sector vacancies requires accounting for distinct seasonal patterns, particularly the recruitment waves that occur ahead of year-end retail shopping periods. Quarter-on-quarter comparisons are distorted by these recurring calendar shifts, making year-on-year evaluations against the corresponding quarter of the preceding year the soundest approach. An important analytical distinction is that this series measures vacant job headcounts rather than full-time equivalent positions; because commercial trade utilizes substantial part-time and marginal staffing, high vacancy counts do not automatically translate into an equivalent volume of full-time labor demand. Early quarterly estimates are revised retrospectively when updated social security employee registers adjust the sector weighting benchmarks.
Frequently asked questions
- Are part-time and marginal retail positions counted equally with full-time vacancies?
- Yes, the survey counts each distinct open position as a single unit regardless of weekly working hours, without converting them into full-time equivalents.
- Does this series include logistics and warehousing facilities operated by retail firms?
- If a distribution warehouse operates as an independent establishment, it may be classified under transport and storage rather than the trade sector.
- Why do trade vacancies display pronounced intra-year seasonality?
- Retailers frequently intensify recruitment in anticipation of year-end shopping seasons, creating seasonal surges that require year-on-year analysis.