UK consumers rank 4th in DIY spending league

UK shoppers are the fourth highest spenders in the European DIY league, according to research group Mintel.

The Western European DIY market was worth EUR81.6 billion (£55 billion) last year. Germany had the greatest spend (EUR15 billion) then France (EUR12.4 billion), Italy (EUR11.7 billion), the UK (EUR11.2 billion) and Spain (EUR6.4 billion).

However, Britons undertake more DIY than their European counterparts - 63 per cent of UK adults claimed to have done some DIY in the past year.

UK-based Kingfisher and French group Le Roy Merlin are the top two players, with 12.5 per cent and 4.8 per cent market shares respectively.