The Garden Centre Association (GCA) says garden centers were rallying and recovering from the pandemic in 2021 according to its overall Barometer of Trade (BoT) figures for the year released this month (February 2022).
Iain Wylie, Chief Executive of the GCA, said: “The growth in retail sales during 2021 demonstrates the increased popularity in gardening during the past two years and shows that the industry is flourishing after a very troublesome time for us all. These figures are very positive and show how important gardening has become to the nation. It also demonstrates the ongoing trends for good mental health and wellbeing, growing our own food, and the planet-friendly aspects of plants.
“However, we expect now that the world is opening up more, that there will be more competition for time and money with consumers potentially switching spending to holidays and other activities aside from gardening, as well as dealing with increased utility bills and inflation. Our members’ job is now to nurture those who became green-fingered during the pandemic and continue to educate them and promote all of the different benefits that come with gardening.”
Due to the pandemic, sales in 2020 were down -4.34% compared to 2019 overall, however, with catering excluded, as this was one of the worst affected departments, they were up 6.21%. In 2021, overall sales were up 31.41% compared to 2020 and up 18.84% compared to 2019.
Houseplant sales in 2021 were up 29.40% when looking at 2020 figures and up 50.19% on 2019.
Outdoor plant sales in 2021 were up 38.90% on the previous year and 29.26% up on 2019.
Sales in seeds and bulbs were up 17.22% in 2021 compared to 2020 and 23.54% up on 2019.
Garden Centre Association