WGMB Consulting Market Barometer 2025/26

The German consulting market stalls: weak growth and structural change underway

Download the full market barometer here free of charge as a PDF (in German).

How did the German consulting market evolve in 2025?

The German consulting market saw only minimal growth in 2025. At €51.4 billion, market volume was just 2.8 percent above the previous year—significantly lower than in earlier years and clearly below the momentum observed in many international markets. In nominal terms, this represents a slight increase; in real terms—after adjusting for inflation—there is hardly any growth left.

The conclusion is clear: the industry is no longer expanding across the board but is undergoing structural change. Or, more pointedly: 2025 was not a year of more consulting. It was a year of different consulting.

How has the growth momentum of consulting evolved over the past 25 years?

A look at the period since 2000 shows that the growth of the consulting industry has significantly outpaced overall economic growth in Germany—as measured by gross domestic product (GDP). Over the past 25 years, the industry’s growth has been interrupted only by major external shocks—9/11, the financial crisis, and the COVID-19 pandemic.

Following the post-COVID boom, the trajectory is clearly normalizing. The catch-up effect has largely run its course, and companies are investing more selectively in light of ongoing economic challenges.

The industry continues to grow, but at a somewhat slower pace than its long-term trend—and now only marginally above the rate of inflation.

Which is the largest segment of the consulting market?

With a share of 35.6 percent, operations consulting is the largest individual segment of the consulting market. It is followed by IT consulting at 24.1 percent, transformation consulting at 20.4 percent, and strategy consulting at 13.5 percent. HR consulting, at 6.4 percent, represents the smallest segment.

The market is thus clearly structured around implementation and technology: more than half of the total volume is accounted for by operations- and IT-related consulting services.

Which topics are driving growth in consulting?

Unlike in many previous years, the primary growth driver in 2025 was not broad-based corporate investment programs. On the contrary, a weak economy, rising insolvencies, cost-cutting programs, and cautious budgets weighed on traditional consulting areas. Conceptual and planning-oriented projects in particular came under pressure—the strategy segment declined by 2.1 percent. Many companies postponed long-term initiatives in favor of short-term stabilization.

Transformation consulting saw the strongest expansion, growing by 8.8 percent. Program and project management, implementation support, and restructuring in particular gained significant importance. Turnaround and restructuring projects alone increased by more than 20 percent—reflecting the economic situation of many industrial companies. As a result, operational interventions and crisis management moved further into focus.

IT consulting also performed above average, with growth of 6 percent. This was driven less by traditional system implementations and more by governance, security, and architecture-related topics. Cybersecurity grew at double-digit rates, while applications and platform projects expanded only moderately. Companies invested selectively—primarily where regulatory requirements, risks, or efficiency gains were immediately visible, but also out of strategic caution to avoid falling behind in future technologies such as artificial intelligence.

The largest segment of the industry—operations consulting—remained stable but showed little dynamism, growing by just 0.7 percent. Efficiency programs, initiatives to strengthen supply chain resilience, and production-related projects sustained demand, but could not fully offset the restraint seen in marketing, sales, and organizational projects.

Which industries are the largest clients of consulting services?

A large share of consulting demand is concentrated in a few industries.

Despite the economic slowdown, manufacturing remains the largest client of consulting services, with a market share of 29.1 percent, followed by financial services (21.4 percent) and the public sector (9.5 percent). Other industries—including healthcare, retail, telecommunications, IT, media, as well as utilities and transport—together account for 40.0 percent.

How will the consulting industry evolve in the future?

Many of today’s key challenges can no longer be addressed purely at a conceptual level but require execution capabilities. Artificial intelligence demands data, infrastructure, and operations; cybersecurity requires ongoing services; transformation calls for implementation; resilience depends on operational interventions in processes and supply chains; and platform strategies require integration and system operations.

As a result, the requirements placed on consulting are fundamentally changing. Strategic, technological, and organizational expertise are increasingly intertwined, and the boundaries between management, IT, and HR consulting are becoming less distinct.

At the same time, many providers are expanding their portfolios beyond traditional advisory services—adding capabilities such as implementation, system integration, and managed services. The market is thus structurally shifting from “pure consulting” toward integrated service models that combine strategy, execution, and operations. Consulting is moving away from the traditional project-based model. Measurable outcomes are increasingly taking center stage, with compensation and delivery models more closely aligned to clearly defined impact objectives.

At the same time, delivery and operations are moving closer to consulting: implementation, platform build-up, and long-term transformation programs are becoming integral components of sustained client relationships.

WGMB-Marktbarometer

Please cite this page as follows:
Wissenschaftliche Gesellschaft für Management und Beratung (2026): Marktbarometer 2025/26.
URL: https://wgmb.org/marktbarometer-25-26/

What is the WGMB-Marktbarometer about?

The WGMB-Marktbarometer analyzes the development of the consulting market in Germany in 2025/26 and identifies key areas of demand, structural changes, and strategic challenges for companies.