Motorhome and Caravan Statistics in Germany

How many motorhomes and caravans are in Germany?

Germany had 1,046,383 registered motorhomes on 1 January 2026, up 6.7% from 981,010 a year earlier¹.

Germany reached a milestone in April 2025 when the total number of registered motorhomes surpassed 1 million for the first time².

• A comprehensive count in 2024 recorded 2,140,360 camping vehicles in Germany, including 120,500 converted or car-registered motorhomes, according to the German Economic Institute for Tourism (dwif)⁸.
• Motorhomes specifically numbered 981,010 units in 2024, increasing from 907,879 units in 2023.²⁸
• There were 1,038,850 caravans. Among them, 780,600 were mobile caravans and 258,250 caravans were on permanent pitches.⁸

How many new motorhomes and caravans are registered each year?

Germany registered 94,134 new leisure vehicles in 2025, representing a slight decrease from 96,392 in 2024.⁵

• Among them, 18,766 were caravans and 75,368 were motorhomes.⁵
• From January to July 2026, 63,329 leisure vehicles were newly registered, 3% fewer than a year earlier: 50,118 motorhomes and 13,211 caravans⁶.

How popular is camping in Germany?

• German campsites (often used by RV travellers) recorded approximately 44.7 million overnight stays in 2025, a 4.2% increase from 2024 and a substantial 24.9% rise compared to pre-pandemic 2019.³
• Camping continues to strengthen its position within Germany’s tourism market. Of the 497.4 million overnight stays recorded in 2025, 9% were spent at camping sites, an increase from 8.6% in 2024 and notably higher than the 7.2% share seen in 2019.³
• Counting smaller sites too, dwif puts 2025 campsite stays at about 56 million nights (+13%), plus around 20 million nights on motorhome pitches (Stellplätze) outside campsites, both record highs⁶.

Motorhome and Caravan Camping by Age Group

Today's motorhome owners are mostly over 50: in April 2025 the largest group of motorhome keepers was aged 60 to 69 (318,589 vehicles), followed by 50 to 59-year-olds (265,073), according to the KBA².

• Keepers aged 50 and over hold almost three-quarters of all motorhomes (734,880 vehicles), while under-40s account for less than 10% (96,201)².

Motorhome and Caravan Ownership by Household Income

Ownership rises with income. In 2023, 2.6% of all households in Germany owned a caravan and 1.6% a motorhome, according to Destatis's official household survey⁹.

• Among households with a net income of €5,000 or more a month, 4.6% owned a caravan and 3.0% a motorhome⁹.
• On €2,600 to €3,600 a month, the shares were 2.1% and 1.3%; below €1,500, too few households owned either to report⁹.

Motorhome and Caravan Ownership by Employment Status

Self-employed households are the most likely to own a caravan, according to Destatis's 2023 household survey⁹.

• 4.5% of households headed by a self-employed person owned a caravan, against 3.0% of employee households and 2.1% of retired households⁹.
• Motorhome ownership is more even: 1.6% of employee households and 1.7% of retired households owned one⁹.

Where do most people go camping in Germany?

• The Baltic Sea coast of Schleswig-Holstein was again the most popular camping region in 2025, with 3.5 million nights (3.4 million by domestic guests)³.
• The Black Forest (Baden-Württemberg) followed with 2.6 million nights and remained the top choice of foreign campers (735,000 nights)³.
• The North Sea coast of Lower Saxony recorded 2.0 million nights and the Bavarian Allgäu 1.8 million³.
• Lake Constance–Upper Swabia (Bodensee-Oberschwaben) returned to the top five with 1.7 million nights, ahead of the Mecklenburg Baltic coast (1.6 million) and Western Pomerania (1.5 million)³.
• Lake districts have the highest camping intensity: in the Franconian Lake District, 47.1% of all overnight stays were at campsites (national average: 9.0%)³.

• Motorhome drivers were the main cause of 600 accidents involving personal injury in 2025, in which 840 people were hurt or killed, including 8 deaths, according to Destatis¹⁰.
• North Rhine-Westphalia saw 157 accidents involving a motorhome in 2023, with incidents increasing by approximately one-third over the preceding five years¹¹.

• Sustainability and nature-centric experiences are growing in importance, with an emphasis on energy efficiency in vehicles and campsite operations.
• Interest in off-road and adventure camping ("overlanding") is increasing.
• Microcamping is booming: 29% of campers used small private pitches on farms, wineries and similar sites, according to ADAC's 2026 survey (16% in 2023), and 56% plan to on their next main holiday⁴.
• Technology integration is enhancing the camping experience, with online bookability becoming a decisive factor for many campers when choosing a site.
• Electric motorhomes are still rare: only 160 of the 1,002,562 motorhomes registered in April 2025 were battery-electric, and 97.4% ran on diesel².