In its annual World Furniture Outlook report, industry research specialist CSIL delivers an estimated picture of the global furniture market. For 2014, the picture is one of growth – albeit “extremely limited” growth when it comes to Western Europe.
World production of furniture is worth about US$437b. This estimate is based on CSIL processing of data from official sources, both national and international, that covers the 70 most important countries. The leading importers (1) are the US, Germany, France, the UK and Canada – the major exporters (2) are China, Germany, Italy, Poland and the US.
In the 2003-2007 period there was a large increase in imports to the US (from US$19b to US$26b in current dollars) and the UK (from US$5.3b to US$8.6b in current dollars), and smaller increases in France, Germany and Canada.
The recession in the US caused a major decrease in furniture imports (from US$26b in 2007 to about US$24b in 2008 and US$19b in 2009). Growth of imports resumed in subsequent years. All major furniture-importing countries saw decreases in imports during the recession. By 2013 the US and Canada had reached or exceeded the pre-recession level, while recovery is slow in Europe – particularly in the UK.
The import penetration for furniture – measured as the ratio between imports and consumption – for the entire world rose from 27.8% in 2003 to 30.6% in 2007. In 2008 and 2009 it decreased as a consequence of the recession, and remained below the pre-recession maximum thereafter.
The World Furniture Outlook 2014 report assumes that the international scenario will see a global GDP growth of 3.6% this year – 2% in advanced economies, and 5.1% in the emerging and developing economies.
In the last 10 years, world trade of furniture – defined as the average between total furniture exports from the 70 major countries and the total furniture imports into these 70 countries – has grown faster than furniture production, and has consistently amounted to about 1% of the world trade of manufactures.
World trade of furniture amounted to US$94b in 2009 – 19% below the previous year – and grew to US$106b in 2010, US$117b, the pre-recession level, in 2011, and US$122b in 2012.
If the world scenario assumed by CSIL materialises, world trade of furniture would be likely to grow in current US$ to US$124b in 2013 and to US$128b in 2014.
The World Furniture Outlook report contains data on furniture production, consumption and trade for 70 countries. Demand forecasts for 2014 and 2015 are also included. Furniture consumption is expected to record different growth rates in different geographical regions of the world, with mature economies growing at a lower speed and emerging countries showing higher growth rates (3).
Growth of furniture demand for the 70 countries combined is forecasted at more than 3%. The outlook includes: extremely limited growth in Western Europe; slow growth in North America; and fast growth in many emerging market economies, particularly in Asia.
Founded in Milan in 1980, CSIL is an independent research institute specialising in applied economics – particularly industry competitiveness, small business, market analysis, evaluation and regional development studies. CSIL’s World Furniture Outlook 2014 is available for online purchase.
