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What is the market size for Commercial Exterior Window Cleaning in Europe. Please separate between low-rise and high-rise buildings.
Hello and thanks for asking Wonder about the market size for commercial exterior window cleaning in Europe.
While there is readily available information about the cleaning industry, it is much more difficult to find information specifically regarding external window cleaning.
In short, I found that the European Cleaning industry size is 90B euros, and Window Cleaning constitutes 10% of the market, therefore representing approximately 9B euros in annual turnover. Unfortunately, I was not able to find any distinctions between low rise and high rise buildings.
METHODOLOGY
I looked for data regarding the window cleaning industry in market reports, industry reports, in trusted media sites, and local European journals.
EUROPEAN CLEANING INDUSTRY
According to the European Federation of Cleaning Industries (FENI) in 2012, the European cleaning sector generated "a turnover of 64.5 billion Euros", and included more than 176,900 distinct companies, of which over 90% had fewer than 50 employees.
It further states that the average annual turnover growth over the last 22 years has been 9.1% annually, which, if extended from 2012 to 2016 means that the 2016 market size for the European cleaning sector is 91.4 billion Euros. (Calculation: 64.5*1.091^4).
Since we can reasonably assume that the 2016 European cleaning sector had a turnover of around 90 billion euros, we can extrapolate that the European external window cleaning sector represents a small portion of that total industry figure.
Finally, this report further states that there has been increased market penetration of commercial cleaning companies, as cleaning services are becoming more often outsourced. In 1989 there was a market penetration of 43%, and in 2012, FENI estimated a market penetration of 66%.
EUROPEAN WINDOW CLEANING
Although I was unable to find Europe-wide data about the particular segment of window cleaning as a subset of the cleaning industry, I did find a figure pertaining to the Dutch market. The European Cleaning Journal stated in 2013, that the window cleaning segment represented 10% of the Dutch cleaning industry.
If we apply this number to the estimated total European cleaning market turnover for 2016 of approximately 90 billion Euros, then we are left with an estimate of 9 billion euros for the annual market turnover of the European window cleaning sector.
Please note that, due to lack of available data, this estimate of 9 billion euros is based on a number of assumptions. Firstly, that the growth rate of 9.1% held true from 2012 to 2016 in order to deliver an industry turnover of approximately 90 billion euros. And secondly, that the window cleaning sector represents 10% of the entire cleaning sector, as it does in the Netherlands.
FUTURE TRENDS
In my research I came across multiple sources that indicate a change in the future of window cleaning as a result of developments in self-cleaning windows, and cleaning robots. This report, while behind a paywall, states that self-cleaning windows is a growing trend, and that Europe is the second largest market, after North America. Conversely, this article opines that self-cleaning glass will not replace professional window cleaners, as self-cleaning glass will still require occasional regular cleaning.
Lastly, there is also the growing market of cleaning robots, which is estimated to be worth $2.5B USD by 2020. While still only a small portion of the cleaning market, this industry trend is worth noting. You can read more about it in this paid report, which has an entire segment on the European Window Cleaning Robot Industry.
CONCLUSION
In conclusion, due to lack of available data on the segment of commercial window cleaning, a best estimate for the market size is an annual turnover of 9B euros, within a cleaning industry of approximately 90B euros. I was not able to find further information to distinguish between low rise and high rise buildings.
I hope that you found this information helpful, and please don't hesitate to ask Wonder again.