07 Oct The furniture industry: a global review

International retail within our industry has grown roughly by 8.8% during the first quarter of 2022 compared to the previous year, according to a study published by the National Association of Furniture Industrialists and Exporters of Spain (ANIEME). We at FMY would like to take a look at this and provide a brief global review of the furniture industry and its growth expectations.

Slow but steady growth

During 2021, the rate of growth of Spanish exportations within the furniture and timber industry has been positive. This trend has carried on throughout the opening months of 2022. However, the growth has been somewhat slower; largely due to factors such as inflation, a significant increase in the price of raw materials and the ever increasing cost of fuel, indispensable for transport.

According to figures by the Spanish Service of Statistics (ESTACOM) – an institution attached to ICEX –  between January and March of 2021, the industry has brought in around 596 million euros, a figure that went as high as 649 million in the first quarter of 2022.

Looking within and abroad

If we take a look within our borders, specifically Autonomous Regions, we notice that Catalonia, the Valencian Community and Galicia top the ranks of furniture exports, accounting for 63.8% of the total furniture sales in the first quarter of this year. The Region of Murcia ranked seventh, with an export rate of 4.7% overall. This is an increase of 24.6% over the previous year, which is a fairly promising outcome, attesting to the good health of Murcia’s furniture industry.

January – March 2022: Furniture exporting wraps the first quarter of 2022 with a net growth of 8.8%.

	Jan – March 2021	Jan– March 2022	%/Total	Variation
Catalonia	165,365.1	189,825.6	29.2%	14.8%
Valencian Community	147,988.7	159,496.8	24.6%	7.8%
Galicia	38,955.2	65,157.8	10.0%	67.3%
Madrid	51,119.9	40,871.6	6.3%	-20.0%
Andalusia	44,099.0	34,584.7	5.3%	-21.6%
Aragon	31,551.9	33,032.9	5.1%	4.7%
Murcia	24,356.3	30,338.9	4.7%	24.6%
Basque Country	21,325.4	27,288.2	4.2%	28.0%
Navarra	13,905.8	15,699.4	2.4%	12.9%
Asturias	8,543.5	13,565.4	2.1%	58.8%
Castille-La Mancha	15,852.0	13,284.9	2.0%	-16.2%
Castille and Leon	13,749.5	11,224.9	1.7%	-18.4%
Rioja	4,046.1	3,479.7	0.5%	-14.0%
Extremadura	904.7	1,538.7	0.2%	70.1%
Balearic Islands	1,150.4	774.1	0.1%	-32.7%
Canary Islands	248.1	609.2	0.1%	145.5%
Cantabria	48.6	44.4	0.0%	-8.6%

Relevant markets

As for the countries that import our furniture, France is still the leading recipient for Spanish furniture exports, accounting for 30.9% of the total market (a 2.4% reduction compared to the same period of 2021).

Portugal and the United States round up the top positions. In this report, ANIEME also points out how important it is to strengthen the US market, which is currently increasing its imports from our country by 26.4%. Not only because of the business potential, but also as an opening in light of the decline of other traditional markets, such as Germany, Italy and Belgium.

Despite Brexit, the United Kingdom market continues growing (+32.8%). This is mainly due to the fact that a significant amount of the UK’s imported furniture doesn’t necessarily end up going to the British Islands. Markets with great growth potential, such as the Middle East and Egypt, are reliant on the UK as a market gateway for their furniture projects.

	Jan – March 2021	Jan– March 2022	%/Total	Variation
France	205,747.8	200,872.9	30.9%	-2.4%
Portugal	70,074.8	93,948.6	14.5%	34.1%
United States	34,374.5	43,458.3	6.7%	26.4%
Germany	44,300.2	42,352.9	6.5%	-4.4%
Italy	34,474.2	28,764.9	4.4%	-16.6%
United Kingdom	20,828.1	27,656.4	4.3%	32.8%
Morocco	27,045.8	24,651.3	3.8%	-8.9%
Netherlands	12,129.6	18,279.1	2.8%	50.7%
Belgium	10,884.4	10,739.4	1.6%	4.7%
Poland	10,108.4	10,579.2	1.6%	4.7%

Imported furniture

As an importing country, Spain has acquired foreign furniture for a total amount of 984 million euros (+19.1%).

The Asian market, in particular China, is the main furniture supplier to our country, accounting for 34.2% of the total imported furniture, and a growth of 38.2% in comparison to 2021.

Some other markets we turn to when acquiring furniture for our country are Italy, our neighbours from Portugal and Morocco, and Germany.

	Jan – March 2021	Jan– March 2022	%/Total	Variation
China	243,532.4	336,524.9	34.2%	38.2%
Italy	64,648.1	81,364.1	8.3%	25.9%
Portugal	94,863.9	72,903.2	7.4%	-23.1%
Morocco	63,584.6	70,140.9	7.1%	10.3%
Germany	70,008.6	68,291.1	6.9%	-2.5%
Poland	47,584.7	63,166.2	6.4%	32.7%
France	48,451.3	49,471.6	5.0%	2.1%
Romania	24,836.4	32,119.0	3.3%	29.3%
Czech Republic	20,036.5	23,806.9	2.4%	18.8%
Vietnam	16,175.3	21,421.6	2.2%	32.4%

Expectations moving forward

To conclude our global review of the furniture industry, we turn to the “World Furniture Outlook” report, published by CSIL (Centre for Industrial Studies of Milan), which estimates that the global furniture demand will continue increasing by around 4% throughout 2022.

The global furniture market has grown outpacing production in the period between 2012 and 2022, accounting for 1% of the total global trade of manufactured goods. For obvious reasons, 2019 saw some slight stagnation; however, the outlook for 2022 and 2023 is showing strong growth.

Conclusion

We can conclude that, despite the difficulties and international uncertainty, the furniture industry is in constant growth. It is also becoming increasingly dependent on relations with other markets as a pathway to new goals and opportunities.

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