The Centre for Industrial Studies’ (CSIL) recent World Furniture Outlook 2020 report states that international trade in furniture has grown faster than furniture production over the past ten years.
According to the CSIL, furniture accounts for roughly 1 per cent of total international trade of manufactured goods, reaching a value of around $150 billion (US) in both 2018 and 2019.
The leading furniture importing countries are the United States, Germany, France and the United Kingdom. On the exports front the leading players are: China, Germany, Poland, Italy and Vietnam. Vietnam recorded the fastest growth rates among the exporting countries in 2019.
After a year of stagnation, the report suggests that world trade in furniture should show a return to growth in 2020 and in 2021.
CSIL anticipates an increase in world consumption of furniture of roughly 2.4 per cent in real terms in 2020.
Asia will continue to be the fastest growing region, with all other regions showing growth of between 1 per cent and 2 per cent in real terms. The slowest growing region is Europe.