Einhell Do-It-Yourself Study 2023: Germans want to improve their DIY skills

DIY and gardening are among the favorite leisure activities of Germans. They also have a healthy awareness of what they can do, though, with 42 percent of them saying: “I can do some jobs, but I’m certainly not a DIY expert.” Many, however, want to get better at it. That is one of the central findings of the Einhell Do-It-Yourself Study 2023. Einhell Germany AG, the leading supplier of garden and DIY tools, joined forces with the SINUS Institute to conduct a representative survey of more than 2,000 participants exploring what the German population think about doing things themselves in the house and garden, and what motivates them to do so.

DIY skills in the home and garden

The majority of people in Germany reckon they have some DIY skills. One in ten says they have two left hands, as it were, but almost half reckon their own DIY capabilities are good to very good. Nevertheless, many want to get even better, with more than half the population agreeing that both men and women should master DIY. “Every man should know how to do DIY,” say 62 percent of men and 67 percent of women. The statement “Every women should know how to do DIY”, on the other hand, is agreed with by 49 percent of men and 59 percent of women.

People consider their gardening ability to be rather better than their DIY skills: 44 percent rate their expertise in the garden as “very good”. There are no differences between the sexes here. Only survey respondents under the age of 29 have less affinity with gardening.

“In the Delphi study entitled “The 2030 Home” that we conducted in 2021, we discovered that the value people attach to their own home is rising sharply and that people are increasingly finding enjoyment in doing little jobs themselves. With the Einhell Do-It-Yourself Study 2023, we as the leading supplier of garden and DIY tools wanted to drill down this attitude and analyze it in more detail,” says Andreas Kroiss, CEO of Einhell Germany AG, on the background to the representative survey.

Learning through video tutorials

Germans use a variety of methods for improving their own DIY skills, with videos from YouTube, for instance, particularly popular and viewed by 65 percent for the purpose of learning how to tackle DIY. 61 percent ask friends and acquaintances for help and advice. Social media other than YouTube is used by 17 percent of those surveyed as a source of information on DIY and garden jobs. For those who get advice through these channels, Instagram (68 percent) and Facebook (61 percent) are much more relevant than Pinterest (38 percent), TikTok (33 percent), and Snapchat (8 percent).

“People in Germany use only a relatively narrow spectrum of information sources. They tend to rely first and foremost on search engines on the internet and going to specialist stores, DIY and garden centers”, says Dr. Marc Calmbach, managing director of the SINUS Institute and project leader of the study. “Print and audio options, on the other hand, hardly play any role as sources of information, nor do visits to trade fairs and further education.”

Calculated for the first time: The Einhell DIY Index

The SINUS Institute and Einhell Germany AG developed the Einhell DIY Index in order to give a snap summary of the affinity of Germans with doing-it-yourself in a single figure. It comprises three dimensions of equal weighting: Interest in DIY, frequency of DIY activity, and subjective assessment of DIY skills.

Based on the first survey, the DIY affinity of the German population stands at 62 out of a possible 100 points. People in the middle age group of 30 to 49 years have the greatest DIY affinity (65 %).

About Einhell Germany AG

Einhell is a leading manufacturer of state-of-the-art tools and devices for the house and garden and will be celebrating its 60th anniversary in 2024. From its headquarters in Landau/Isar (Bavaria), the internationally successful company has continuously expanded its innovative rechargeable battery platform Power X-Change and is now the market leader in the area of cordless tools and garden devices. For many years Einhell has set new standards in terms of endurance, performance, and safety. Einhell customers appreciate the freedom of cordless operation for all their DIY projects, as well as the excellent value for money that Einhell products represent and the first-class customer service offered by the company.