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Thoroughly analyzed: Hamburg taxi trade between the pandemic, fare adjustments and fixed-price experiments
An extensive evaluation by the Nord Statistics Office on behalf of the Authority for Transport and Mobility Transition (BVM) shows the trends in trip numbers, revenues and vehicle deployment over these eight years. The basis of the analysis consists of automated taximeter data. They were supplemented from 2025 with data from the platforms Bolt, UBER, FreeNow and Hansa Funktaxi eG for fixed-price tours. In total, the platforms reported in the first year of introduction over 1.85 million fixed-price tours, around 20% of all trips.
Decline in Trip Numbers
The number of taxi trips carried out shows a clear decline since 2017. While it was about 12.22 million trips in 2017, the figures had already fallen to 11.31 million by 2019. The pandemic acted like a shock: in 2020 the number dropped to 5.7 million, in 2021 it rose slightly to 7.43 million. By 2025 the number had risen again to nearly 9.97 million trips, but the pre-crisis level was not reached.
The number of licensed taxis rose in tandem: from 2,841 taxis in 2023 to 3,002 in 2024, before it fell to 2,908 at the end of 2025. This development led in June 2024 to the introduction of a moratorium on taxi concessions to ensure market stability.
Shifts, working hours and trips per shift
Productivity per vehicle has also changed. In 2017 a taxi completed almost twelve trips per shift; by 2025 it was about ten. In absolute figures: from 4,021 trips per taxi in 2017 to 3,352 trips in 2025. Hours worked per taxi fell from 3,244 hours in 2017 to 2,921 hours in 2025. This results in a decline in trips per hour worked from 1.37 to 1.23.
The occupancy rate – that is, the share of working time during which a taxi carries passengers – is currently around 32.5%, just below the pre-pandemic level of 33.6%. Similarly, the occupied mileage per shift, i.e., the share of distance driven while occupied, fell from roughly 48% to 46.4%.
Revenue development and tariff adjustments
The tariffs were adjusted multiple times: in 2022 by 9.6%, in 2023 by 12.8%, and in 2025 by an average of 4.8%. The adjustments are reflected in the revenues. Net revenue per trip rose from €17.55 in 2019 to €23.42 in 2025, an increase of around 33%. Revenue per man-hour grew in the same period from €25.01 to €28.62, while revenue per shift rose from €197.84 to €239.37.
Differences between single-vehicle and multi-vehicle companies persist. In 2025, net revenue per trip for single-vehicle companies stood at €24.27, while multi-vehicle fleets were slightly lower at around €23.40. In revenue per man-hour, similar differences are evident: single-vehicle companies achieved €24.58, multi-vehicle companies €29.22.
Net revenue per kilometer rose over the years from €1.26 to €1.58, also a clear consequence of the tariff adjustments.
Fleet dynamics and corporate structure
The number of taxi companies shows moderate fluctuations: Of 1,801 companies in 2025, 1,507 were single-vehicle companies and 294 were multi-vehicle companies. The number of closures fell to 63 in 2025, after pandemic-related peaks in 2020 of 173. The average age of the taxi fleet is currently about 3.84 years.
Airport traffic is particularly relevant: Although last year the entrances into the waiting area increased only slightly (2025: 0.75 million), the pre-COVID period (2019: 1.03 million) is far from being reached. The share of taxi rides in passenger movements stabilizes at around five percent.
Fixed prices and digital mediation
With the introduction of fixed-price tours in 2025, more than 600,000 rides were integrated into the dataset for the first time. The allocation of fixed-price tours to metered taxi trips was 92.5%, an indication of increasing digitization and data integration.
A eight years of taxis in Hamburg under scrutiny
Hamburg's taxi industry is undergoing strong change after eight years: pandemic declines, increasing vehicle numbers, tariff adjustments and digital mediation are changing the operational reality. The rides per taxi and utilization have not yet recovered, while revenues per ride, per kilometer and per shift have risen due to tariff adjustments. The introduction of fixed-price tours marks a new approach to increase transparency and efficiency.
The data show a taxi industry that must adapt to changed conditions and whose economic stability remains closely tied to the balance of supply, demand and tariff policy. The taxi industry in Hamburg is in an exceptional position, largely spared from platform operators thanks to the prudent policy and administration of the city.
Content automatically translated.
Taxi-Fahrzeuge (Pkw) , Taxi-Newsletter, Taxameter, Taxi-Fahrer , BZP – Deutscher Taxi- und Mietwagenverband , Straßenverkehrsordnung (StVO) , Krankenbeförderung , Weiterbildung , Taxi-Konzessionen , Verkehrspolitik , Mietwagenbranche , Taxi-Apps , Berufskraftfahrer-Qualifikations-Gesetz BKrFQG) , Taxizentralen , Personal, Gehälter, Arbeitsschutz , Wirtschaftsnachrichten , Werbung , Taxi-Folierung , Taxi-Umrüster , Straßenverkehr , Elektromobilität, Taxifuhrpark und -flottenmanagement , Taxi-Versicherungen , Hybrid, Diesel, Erdgas , Taxi-Magazin
