Schrijf je in voor onze dagelijkse nieuwsbrief om al het laatste nieuws direct per e-mail te ontvangen!

Inschrijven Ik ben al ingeschreven

Sign up for our daily Newsletter and stay up to date with all the latest news!

Subscribe I am already a subscriber

Sales of the German Furniture Industry decrease by 4.3% in 2023

According to official figures, the German furniture industry generated approximately 18 billion euros in sales last year, a decrease of 4.3% compared to the previous year. Both domestic (down by 4.6%) and international business (down by 3.6%) saw declining sales figures. The export ratio stood at 33.4%. 'For several months, our industry has been suffering from consumer reluctance to make purchases, which we attribute to inflation, the downturn in the construction sector, political uncertainty, and geopolitical crises. Consumer-related furniture sectors are particularly affected by weak demand, whereas segments such as office and store furnishings are impacted to a lesser extent,' reports Jan Kurth, Managing Director of the German Furniture Industry Associations.

Photo © minnystock | Dreamstime.com

While sales in the first half of the year were only 0.2% below the previous year, primarily due to order backlogs, price increases, and statistical special effects, the second half of the year saw a significant decline of 8.4%. 'The current market weakness is also reflected in our internally collected order intake data, which averaged around 11% lower in 2023 compared to the previous year,' says Kurth.

The most significant losses last year were observed in the segment of "Other Furniture," which includes living room, dining room, and bedroom furniture. Sales in this category decreased by 12.6% compared to the previous year, reaching 5.6 billion euros. Manufacturers of mattresses (down by 11.2% to 524 million euros) and upholstered furniture (down by 3.2% to approximately 1 billion euros) also experienced declines. However, kitchen furniture saw a slight decrease of 0.3% to 6.2 billion euros. On the positive side, office furniture producers saw an increase of 2.6% to 2.3 billion euros, while manufacturers of store and other commercial furniture saw a rise of 3.3% to 2.2 billion euros.

In December 2023, the sales of German furniture manufacturers amounted to 1.25 billion euros, a decrease of 9.4% compared to the previous year. All furniture sectors, except for store and other commercial furniture, recorded declines.

'The order situation remains tense at the beginning of the current year,' said Kurth. The market environment continues to be challenging. In addition to weak consumer sentiment, the industry is particularly concerned about the stalled construction of new homes, which urgently requires political support. The association's managing director sees reason for cautious optimism in the decline in inflation and the expected interest rate cuts by the European Central Bank anticipated for the second half of the year.

More information:
Verbände der deutschen Möbelindustrie
www.moebelindustrie.de

Publication date: