Bundestag Expert Report on Vending: 621,000 Machines and Where the Figures Come From

The Parliamentary Research Services of the German Bundestag have released an expert report on vending: 20 pages, three research divisions, completed on 11 February 2026. It cites 621,000 beverage and food vending machines in Germany and €4.62 billion in industry revenue for 2024. Both figures derive from estimates by an industry association, and the report documents this plainly. Anyone citing these numbers going forward should understand what they actually comprise.

Key Points

• The report is filed under reference numbers WD 4-3000-011/26, WD 5-3000-017/26 and WD 8-3000-009/26 and was completed on 11 February 2026.
• The key market figures are estimates from the Bundesverband der Deutschen Vending-Automatenwirtschaft, not official statistics.
• The €4.62 billion is not vending-machine revenue. The association itself lists the vending-machine figure at approximately €3.4 billion; the remainder comprises ancillary services, distribution and water-vending revenue.
• Hot beverages account for 75 per cent of transactions but only 47 per cent of revenue. The reverse is true for snacks and food: 9 per cent of transactions, 20 per cent of revenue.
• Of the 621,000 machines, 416,000 are hot-beverage units, of which 295,000 are tabletop models.

What the Report Covers

Three research divisions contributed: WD 5 for Economy, Energy and Climate; WD 8 for Health, Family, Education and Environment; WD 4 for Fiscal Affairs and Finances. The structure is a comprehensive overview: the industry's economic situation, a historical review, followed by an examination of the legal framework covering Building Use Regulations, youth protection, business registration, food hygiene, waste law, taxation, state building regulations, shop opening hours legislation and location permits. Concluding with a section on reform proposals.

For market data, the report cites almost exclusively one source: the market overview of the Bundesverband der Deutschen Vending-Automatenwirtschaft. This source provides the 621,000 machines, 12 million daily transactions, €4.62 billion in revenue and the year-on-year growth of 18.7 per cent. The report adds its own comparative context: approximately 0.7 per cent of total German retail sales, measured against figures from the Handelsverband Deutschland.

For market structure, the report cites approximately 15,000 employees and around 1,000 vending-machine service providers, predominantly mid-sized firms. Eight operators account for approximately 30 per cent of the vending-service market. Of particular significance for site placement across the sector: approximately 70 per cent of vending machines are located in commercial premises, with the remainder in public institutions, hotels, railway stations and airports, schools, universities and hospitals. This figure dates from 2022 and comes from an earlier version of the same market overview.

The Difference Between 4.62 and 3.4 Billion

The association's market overview provides a more granular breakdown of the €4.62 billion than appears in the report. Revenue from beverage and snack vending is stated at approximately €3.4 billion, which rises to €4.62 billion annually when ancillary services, distribution and water-vending revenue are included.

This is not a calculation error in the report; it merely simplifies. For context, the difference exceeds one billion euros. Dividing €4.62 billion by 621,000 machines yields approximately €7,400 in annual revenue per machine. Using €3.4 billion gives approximately €5,500. These figures differ by 36 per cent, and only the latter reflects actual vending-machine revenue.

In the market overview, the 18.7 per cent growth figure applies to the €4.62 billion. The publication does not specify how much of this growth derives from vending machines and how much from ancillary services, distribution and water-vending.

The Metric That Matters to Operators

More revealing than total revenue are two breakdowns that the association presents side-by-side and that the report does not emphasize.

By transaction count: 75 per cent hot beverages, 16 per cent cold beverages, 9 per cent snacks and food. By revenue share, the proportions shift: 47 per cent hot beverages, 33 per cent cold beverages, 20 per cent snacks and food.

Thus, hot beverages account for three-quarters of all transactions but generate just under half of revenue. Snacks and food represent one-eleventh of transactions yet account for one-fifth of revenue. For operators, this has clear implications: hot-beverage service frequency determines how often machines require handling, cleaning and restocking; snack lines disproportionately drive the revenue that remains at each site. An operator calculating service costs per transaction and revenue per euro operates within two distinct economic frameworks.

The Composition of the 621,000 Machines

The market overview divides the installed base into four categories, which sum exactly to the total: 295,000 hot-beverage tabletop machines, 121,000 hot-beverage floor-standing units, 112,000 cold-beverage machines and 93,000 snack and food machines. Hot-beverage units thus comprise 416,000 machines—over two-thirds of the installed base—and the compact tabletop model, representing nearly half of all units, is the most common form factor in the market.

According to the association, the 621,000 figure excludes bulk-brew office coffee systems, plumbed water dispensers and reverse-vending machines. The 621,000 therefore represents beverage and food vending machines in the strict sense, not the entire equipment universe.

Data Sources

The market overview itself states its foundation: an operator survey conducted June to August 2024, the EVA market report 2023, internal analysis and expert interviews. This is an industry association survey, not official statistics, and the figures are explicitly identified as industry-internal estimates.

The Parliamentary Research Services report does not present these as official figures; it cites them with a footnote. This is precisely why reviewing the original matters: a Bundestag document now carries these figures, and documents cite other documents. Anyone encountering the €4.62 billion figure in a presentation going forward should verify whether it refers to vending-machine revenue alone or to the broader industry including distribution and water-vending.

A marginal detail underscores the field's breadth: for agricultural direct-to-consumer sales, the report references an online survey by the Bayerische Landesanstalt für Landwirtschaft. It found that approximately 19 per cent of surveyed farms operate vending machines, and 73 per cent of these machines are located on-farm. Farm machines are therefore no longer marginal; in Bavaria, nearly one in five direct-to-consumer sellers surveyed operate such equipment.