Anyone re-letting retail space on a German high street today is targeting a group that accounts for just one in five city center visitors. Gen Z is demographically the smallest cohort in decades — and yet it decides which concepts are currently taking space in the leasing market: lifestyle and anime merchandise, sneakers, beauty, food service, fitness. The contradiction resolves once footfall and benchmark are separated: this generation does not carry the city center’s visitor numbers, it defines what counts as a relevant offer on a given unit — and with it, which lease will still perform in five years.
Key Takeaways
- Only 10.0 percent of Germany’s population is aged 15 to 24 — 8.3 million people, a historic low (Destatis, as of 31 December 2025).
- In city centers, Gen Z accounts for 21 percent of visitors; the average visitor age is 46.1 years (IFH Cologne, “Vitale Innenstädte 2024”).
- Their reason for coming differs: 56 percent visit to shop, 44 percent for food and drink — against 61 to 40 percent across all age groups.
- Online is no longer a young channel: e-commerce holds 13.5 percent of German retail sales, with the strongest growth coming from shoppers over 55 (HDE Online-Monitor 2026).
- The leasing market follows this cohort regardless: food service and food accounted for 24 percent of take-up in the first half of 2026 (BNP Paribas Real Estate).
- For owners, the key variable is shifting less toward rent levels and more toward unit size, use mix and lease structure.
The Defining Generation Is the Smallest One
As of 31 December 2025, 8.3 million people aged 15 to 24 lived in Germany — 10.0 percent of the population, the lowest share the Federal Statistical Office has ever recorded. In the early 1980s, when the baby boomers were young, one in six people (16.7 percent) belonged to this age group. In the EU comparison, Germany’s 10.0 percent sits slightly below the average of 10.7 percent (Destatis, press release of 10 August 2026).
City centers reflect this directly. The IFH Cologne study “Vitale Innenstädte 2024” — around 69,000 face-to-face interviews in 107 German city centers between mid-September and mid-November 2024 — puts Gen Z (up to 25 years) at 21 percent of visitors. Millennials (26 to 50) account for 30 percent, Gen X (51 to 65) for 26 percent, and 23 percent are over 65. The average age in German city centers is 46.1 years, below the previous waves (2022: 46.5; 2020: 47.5).
From a landlord’s perspective, these are two separate variables: footfall and today’s revenue come predominantly from older visitors. The decision on which concept reads as current and which as dated is made by the young. Confusing the two means letting either past today’s purchasing power or past tomorrow’s demand.
The Profile: 22 Years Old, Vocational Training, Almost Four Hours of Screen Time
A composite profile makes this tangible. “Lena, 22” is not a real person but the sum of average values from publicly available studies. Every data point comes from a named source — the combination is a model, not a survey.
Education and Work
Lena was born around 2003. A good 30 percent of her cohort obtained the Abitur, Germany’s university entrance qualification (bpb, data as of 2024) — meaning the majority did not. Of the new apprenticeship contracts signed in 2025, 43 percent went to people with an intermediate school certificate, 26 percent to Abitur holders, 23 percent to a first-level certificate (Federal Statistical Office, 2026). In total, around 1.9 million people started a post-secondary program or degree course in 2025. The statistically most likely profile is therefore not the university student but the apprentice or early-career employee with an intermediate certificate.
Money
Income is low but reliable. The average collectively agreed apprenticeship salary stood at 1,208 euros gross per month in western Germany in 2025; the statutory minimum rises to 724 euros for first-year apprentices in 2026, and collectively agreed rates grew 6.7 percent in 2025 (BIBB). The budget is small and largely fixed — which explains why this cohort is price-sensitive yet quick to spend on small-ticket items.
Media and Music
The JIM Study 2025 by the Medienpädagogischer Forschungsverbund Südwest covers 12- to 19-year-olds, the younger half of the cohort: almost four hours of smartphone use per day, WhatsApp used regularly by 96 percent, Instagram by 63, Snapchat by 56, TikTok by 53 percent. 91 percent use AI tools — up 29 percentage points within a year. Girls use Instagram, Snapchat and TikTok around ten percentage points more than boys.
Musically, the picture is broader than brand presentations tend to suggest. Taylor Swift topped Germany’s Spotify annual charts in 2025, followed by Berlin rapper Pashanim and Linkin Park; the most-streamed song was “Tau mich auf” by Zartmann, the top album “MOST VALUABLE PLAYA” by Jazeek (Spotify Wrapped 2025). German rap and international pop coexist — one target group with one taste in music is the exception, not the rule.
Film, Series, Anime
Cinema is slowly losing this age group. In 2025, cinema admissions in Germany rose eight percent to 23.4 million people, with 31 percent of the population visiting at least once. The growth, however, came from audiences aged 40 and above; the average moviegoer age climbed 1.4 years to 40.6. Among 10- to 19-year-olds, reach remains high at 64 percent but visit frequency is falling; among 20- to 29-year-olds, reach itself is declining (FFA, “Kinobesucher*innen 2025” study, published May 2026).
The exception is anime. “Chainsaw Man — The Movie: Reze Arc” drew more than 278,000 admissions in Germany, “Jujutsu Kaisen” more than 120,000; Crunchyroll reports over 21 million paying subscribers worldwide. For retail this is no footnote — it is the demand base behind the merchandise concepts currently leasing prime pitches.
Sport, Going Out, Outlook
Leisure priorities have shifted. Germany’s fitness industry counted 12.36 million members and 9,647 facilities as of 31 December 2025 — a 5.7 percent increase in locations year-on-year, on net revenue of 6.25 billion euros (DSSV, Deloitte and DHfPG, “Eckdaten der deutschen Fitnesswirtschaft 2026”). Padel is growing at double-digit rates alongside, with more than 50,000 active players in Germany.
Alcohol consumption, meanwhile, is falling sharply: only 32 percent of 18- to 25-year-olds drink alcohol at least weekly; across all age groups, the share of people consuming alcohol dropped from 78 to 68 percent within a decade (YouGov, fieldwork 15–29 September 2025). For city center food service, this means the evening revenue driver is shifting from alcoholic drinks toward coffee, tea and signature-drink concepts.
The underlying outlook is more pragmatic than public debate suggests: the Shell Youth Study 2024 (2,509 respondents aged 12 to 25) finds around three quarters who consider their life goals achievable in Germany — alongside 81 percent who fear a war in Europe and 80 percent who regard climate change as man-made.
Experiences Beat Products — Price Beats Both
The spending logic of this cohort fits in one sentence: experiences are prioritized, products are negotiated. A Mastercard analysis for 2025 shows that in Germany overall, 85 percent plan to spend more on travel, 77 percent on outdoor activities and 68 percent on concerts and live events. The counter-financing happens elsewhere: 44 percent want to spend less on fashion, 42 percent are cutting luxury goods, 49 percent actively compare prices.
Among the young cohort, caution comes on top. According to Mintel, 61 percent of Gen Z in Germany are currently saving more than a year ago, mostly for short-term goals such as travel or consumer electronics — while a majority simultaneously plans to spend more on non-essentials this year. That is not a contradiction but selective consumption: fewer purchases, deliberately chosen.
Secondhand is no longer a niche channel. Around two thirds of Gen Z have already bought used clothing; for 72 percent of all secondhand buyers the lower price is the decisive criterion, for 14 percent sustainability. PwC projected Germany’s secondhand fashion market to grow from around 3.5 billion euros (2022) to five to six billion euros in 2025. For high street space the effect is ambivalent: most of that revenue migrates to platforms, while curated physical formats emerge that live off precisely this trend.
The Channel Myth: Online Stopped Being Young a While Ago
One of the most persistent assumptions in lease negotiations is that the young target group buys online anyway, so physical space is structurally losing out. The data does not support this. E-commerce most recently held 13.5 percent of German retail sales, up from 13.4 percent the year before. The strongest growth comes from shoppers aged 55 and over, whose number rose an above-average 3.1 percent in 2025. The German Retail Federation (HDE) describes the effect precisely: online shoppers are getting older and taking the habits of their younger years with them (HDE Online-Monitor 2026).
The finding repeats in social commerce. The NIQ “Digital Purchases” panel of around 350,000 participants tracked Germany’s TikTok Shop from its launch on 31 March 2025 through 1 March 2026: 15 percent of recorded online shoppers bought there at least once, the platform ranks 15th among tracked online retailers by revenue, and the average basket is 56.50 euros. The age split is the decisive part: Gen Z accounts for 30 percent of revenue — shoppers aged 47 to 66 for 37 percent.
For owners, the sober conclusion is that the online channel is not a generational question but one of assortment and price. Young customers do not come to the city center because they ignore the internet — they come because the city center offers something the shopping basket does not capture.
Gen Z in the City Center: What This Generation Actually Wants
The IFH data shows a clear shift in visit motives. Across all age groups, shopping is the top reason at 61 percent, followed by food and drink at 40 percent. For Gen Z the two converge: 56 percent shopping, 44 percent gastronomy. For this group, food service is not an appendix to the shopping trip but a co-equal reason to come.
The same study documents how the two interlock: 44 percent of those who shop in the city center also use its food and drink offer; 47 percent of those who come for leisure or culture also shop. It is the mix of uses that generates footfall — not the single anchor tenant.
Among the drivers of overall attractiveness, quality of stay leads all factors examined with an effect strength of 14.1 out of 100. Success factors work across generations, with one nuance: the younger generation weights experience value and vibrancy more strongly, the older generation leans toward classic factors. On the action side the finding is unambiguous — 51 percent of respondents consider measures against vacancy and derelict space absolutely necessary, and 37 percent want more offers for children and young people.
The footfall environment remains stable but without tailwind: after a 1.5 percent gain in 2024, pedestrian frequencies in 2025 stayed close to the previous year’s level (hystreet, 322 measuring points in 112 cities). Growth currently comes not from more people, but from better conversion.
The Leasing Market Has Already Priced This In
Retail take-up in Germany again passed the 500,000 square meter mark in 2025 (JLL). The sector split is the striking part: food service and food ranked second in 2025 with around 113,000 square meters and reached a 24 percent share, roughly 48,400 square meters, in the first half of 2026 (BNP Paribas Real Estate). Decathlon was among the most expansive players in 2025 with 17 recorded openings and around 36,000 square meters.
In parallel, concepts whose demand base is almost entirely young are taking prime locations. Miniso is taking over roughly 1,900 square meters at Schildergasse 39 in Cologne as Douglas’s successor, opening its first German flagship store there in the first quarter of 2026 with licensed products, anime figures and giftware; the German management considers 80 to 100 locations realistic in the long term. Pop Mart now operates stores in Berlin and Hamburg and has announced further German openings for 2026, including in North Rhine-Westphalia (company statements, as of April 2026).
What these tenants share is not the assortment but the function: they give people a reason to travel into town. We covered the strategic logic behind this store offensive in From Point of Sale to Strategic Asset — here the demand side matters: without this cohort, these leases would not exist.
What Owners and Investors Should Conclude
Unit Size
Demand is polarizing. What is sought are either compact units of 80 to 250 square meters for beauty, sneakers and food-to-go — or large-format experience spaces from around 1,000 square meters that can stage a brand. The classic mid-size unit of 400 to 800 square meters in secondary pitches has no matching concept for this target group. In re-letting former department store or chain-store space, subdivision is therefore usually the faster route than a single tenant.
Food Service as Co-Anchor, Not Gap Filler
If 44 percent of Gen Z comes to the city center for food and drink, and 44 percent of shoppers eat or drink while they are there, gastronomy is a footfall generator, not a residual use. In practice: place food service units early in the planning, with the technical prerequisites — extraction, grease separators, delivery access — instead of pushing them into unsuitable leftover space later.
Lease Structure for Trend Concepts
Concepts that live off a hype deserve a different contract architecture than established chains. Turnover rents with a minimum rent, shorter initial terms with extension options and clearly regulated reinstatement obligations price the risk more accurately than a long fixed term at headline rent. How strongly incentives shift the economic price of a unit is covered in our piece on effective rent.
Test Concept Depth, Not Just Covenant
With young concepts, checking the balance sheet is not enough. The relevant questions: How broad is the assortment beyond the current trend item? How many stores does the brand run in comparable markets, and for how long? Is a parent group funding the expansion? The first bubble tea cycle around 2012 remains the case study in how quickly a format can vanish from city centers.
Quality of Stay Is a Leasing Factor
Quality of stay is, according to IFH, the strongest single driver of city center attractiveness — for the younger generation additionally tied to experience value and vibrancy. For owners this is not merely a municipal issue: facades, shopfront zones, lighting, outdoor seating and how vacancy in one’s own building is handled all feed directly into the lettability of the entire pitch.
Conclusion: The Smallest Cohort Sets the Benchmark
Gen Z is demographically weak and a minority in city centers. Its purchasing power carries no location today. What it does carry is the definition of what counts as a relevant offer — and that is what the expansion decisions currently filling prime pitches are calibrated against.
For owners, this does not mean aligning the portfolio with one age group. It means answering two questions separately: Who delivers footfall and revenue today — and whose expectations decide whether the unit is still in demand in five years. Where the two answers diverge, it is the tenant mix that belongs under review, not the rent level.
Frequently Asked Questions About Gen Z in the City Center
What share of city center visitors does Gen Z represent?
According to IFH Cologne’s “Vitale Innenstädte 2024” study, 21 percent of city center visitors belong to Gen Z (up to 25 years). Millennials account for 30 percent, Gen X for 26 percent, baby boomers for 23 percent. The average visitor age is 46.1 years.
Does the young generation mostly shop online?
No. E-commerce holds 13.5 percent of German retail sales, and the strongest current growth comes from shoppers over 55 (HDE Online-Monitor 2026). Even on TikTok Shop, Gen Z generates just 30 percent of revenue, while 37 percent comes from 47- to 66-year-olds (NIQ, 31 March 2025 to 1 March 2026).
Which sectors are currently leasing for this target group?
Food service and food (24 percent of take-up in the first half of 2026), sport and sneakers, beauty, and lifestyle and merchandise concepts such as Miniso and Pop Mart. Notably, these tenants increasingly take prime locations and large formats — no longer just shopping centers.
Which unit sizes are in demand?
Demand polarizes between compact units of roughly 80 to 250 square meters and large-format experience spaces from around 1,000 square meters — Miniso is leasing around 1,900 square meters on Cologne’s Schildergasse. The classic mid-size unit in secondary pitches is hardest to fill.
How should leases with trend concepts be structured?
Advisable are turnover rents with a minimum rent, shorter initial terms with extension options and clearly regulated reinstatement obligations. Equally decisive is testing concept depth: assortment breadth beyond the trend item, store track record in comparable markets, and the financial strength of the parent group.
