7. May 2025
TÜV SÜD focuses on digitalization and sustainability. The international testing inspection, and certification (TIC) provider significantly increased its revenue in 2024 by 9.2 percent to EUR 3.4 billion, while EBIT almost reached the previous year's level at EUR 216.6 million. TÜV SÜD employed almost 30,000 people worldwide in 2024, more than half of them abroad.
- Stable business model: revenues at EUR 3.429 billion, earnings (EBIT) at EUR 216.6 million
- Broad positioning: growth in all segments and regions
- Investments in the future: strategic acquisitions and expansion of testing infrastructure
- Focus on future markets: digitalization and sustainability
TÜV SÜD is one of the world's leading providers of testing, inspection and certification (TIC) services. “In the 2024 financial year, we grew worldwide and achieved all the targets in our forecast,” says Dr. Johannes Bussmann, Chairman of the Board of Management of TÜV SÜD AG. In light of the ongoing crises and uncertainties, this is not a matter of course. “To consolidate and expand our position, we are focusing on our core competencies and core markets and investing in key future-facing topics such as digitalization and sustainability.”
In 2024, TÜV SÜD significantly increased its revenue by 9.2 percent to EUR 3.429 billion, while EBIT remained almost stable at EUR 216.6 million. “We are satisfied with this result as we invested in 2024 in several strategic acquisitions, in the expansion of our global testing infrastructure and in our FORWARD initiative with important transformation projects to modernize our company,” says Bussmann. In addition, OPEn, the largest digitalization project in TÜV SÜD's history, was launched.
Growth on a broad basis
“We are particularly pleased that our growth was driven by all segments and regions,” explains Sabine Nitzsche, Chief Financial Officer of TÜV SÜD AG. The three segments INDUSTRY, MOBILITY and CERTIFICATION each accounted for around one third of Group sales. The approximately 7,900 employees in the INDUSTRY segment generated revenue of EUR 1,138 million in 2024, a year-on-year increase of 10.2 percent. According to the CFO, around 7,000 employees in the MOBILITY segment also put in a strong performance, achieving double-digit growth of 10.1 percent with a revenue of EUR 1,182 million. Around 9,300 people employees in the CERTIFICATION segment generated revenue of EUR 1,122 million, representing an increase of 6.8 percent. The slightly weaker growth compared to the other segments was among other things due to a further delay in the introduction of the European Medical Device Regulation.
In 2024, TÜV SÜD also grew in all regions. The EUROPE region, which comprises Europe including Germany, was once again the region with the highest revenue. “At EUR 2,606 million, our EUROPE region accounted for around three quarters of our Group sales in 2024,” reports Nitzsche. This represents a year-on-year increase of 8.5 percent. The AMERICAS region recorded an increase in revenue of 7.4 percent to EUR 212.3 million, while revenue increase in the ASIA region was even double-digit, rising by 13.3 percent to EUR 611 million.
Investing in the future
To continue its successful development, TÜV SÜD invested in several company acquisitions, the modernization and expansion of its global testing infrastructure, the development and advancement of innovative services as well as training and further education of its employees.
The company’s acquisitions focused on its core competencies and core markets. The acquisition of the Swedish Carspect Group to the MOBILITY segment continued TÜV SÜD´s internationalization strategy. Carspect Group carries out periodic technical inspections (PTI) and other vehicle-related inspection services in Sweden, Estonia and Latvia. In Denmark, TÜV SÜD acquired Domutech Group, a leading provider of building inspections, energy certificates and technology-based solutions for residential and commercial properties, thereby also securing access to the Scandinavian sustainable building market.
Digitalization of processes and services
In 2024, TÜV SÜD invested a total of EUR 150.5 million in the modernization of the company – with a focus on digitalizing its own processes, developing innovative services, expanding the global testing infrastructure, modernizing the energy efficiency of TÜV SÜD Service Centers in Germany and placing sustainability at the heart of new construction projects such as the “Algorithm” building in Munich.
“As we further develop and advance our services, we are focusing on digitalization and sustainability as key issues of our time,” explains Dr. Bussmann. “We aim to provide our customers with the best possible support during the necessary transformation process.” TÜV SÜD's portfolio includes, for example, cybersecurity-related services and support for the secure and responsible use of Artificial Intelligence; the company is already a leading provider of expert assessments of AI in medical devices and medical applications.
TÜV SÜD is also using digitalization to advance its own services. For example, TÜV SÜD´s experts are testing the use of digital tools for the periodic inspection of vehicles in a technical service center designed as a “living lab” and are using an intelligent combination of drones and AI-based navigation and analysis software for the inspection of wind turbines.
New opportunities in the area of sustainability
Against the backdrop of the current global political situation, climate protection and sustainability are no longer as much of a focus in some countries. “However, we remain convinced, that there is no way around a more sustainable orientation of our society and our economy”, says Dr. Bussmann, “and we are confident that we can unlock new opportunities for our company in this area.”
In the 2024, TÜV SÜD also expanded its sustainability services in a targeted manner. Its extensive range of services includes establishment and verification of corporate and product carbon footprints, auditing and certification of environmental management systems and certification of “green” and “blue” hydrogen according to pioneering TÜV SÜD standards, which are an important contribution to the marketability of climate-friendly energy sources.
The company is also partnering with the IEEE Standards Organization Association to develop an integrated evaluation framework for sustainable mobility as part of the SustainMobility initiative.
“We want to lead the way when it comes to sustainability and be the partner of choice for our customers,” emphasizes Dr. Bussmann. This also includes the goal of embedding sustainability throughout the company and its value chain. All major new buildings in recent years – including the “Algorithm” building in Munich – meet the highest possible energy standards in place at the time of construction. In addition, TÜV SÜD continued to modernize its offices and install photovoltaic systems in 2024.
TÜV SÜD's sustainability commitment has been recognized in recent years by EcoVadis, the world's leading provider of business sustainability ratings. “As one of the pioneers in our industry, we are also committed to achieving net-zero emissions in accordance with the Science Based Target Initiative (SBTi) standard,” says Dr. Bussmann. To this end, TÜV SÜD has defined science-based climate targets that have been validated by the SBTi.
Focus on people – training secures the future
In 2024, the number of TÜV SÜD employees rose to almost 30,000, of whom over 50 percent work outside Germany. The increase in personnel was due to both the creation of new jobs and several company acquisitions. In the global competition for talent, TÜV SÜD is pursuing a targeted HR strategy and investing in the continuous training and development of its employees. In 2024, a total of approximately 129,000 training days were completed – an average of 34 hours per employee.
Dr. Bussmann is also confident about the future: “With our FORWARD initiative, our OPEn project, our focus on sustainability, the ongoing development of our service portfolio and the targeted development of our employees, we have set our company on the right course for the future.”
Download Photo Dr. Johannes Bussmann
Download Photo Sabine Nitzsche
More information on the Internet
• Annual Report at tuvsud.com/en/insights/annual-report
• Summarized biographies of the Board of Management members at tuvsud.com/en/about-us/leadership
Press contact: Sabine Hoffmann / Dr. Thomas Oberst
