The German state North Rhine-Westphalia, in particular the East Westphalia-Lippe region, has maintained its position as a significant furniture production location, despite adverse market conditions last year. Once again, almost 40 percent of the industry-wide turnover (enterprises with 20 or more employees) was generated there - even though the approximately 300 local businesses could not escape the weak consumer climate and recorded a turnover decrease of 6.5 percent to 7.8 billion euros.
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Almost 30 percent of the nationwide industry turnover came from the East Westphalia-Lippe region. The kitchen furniture industry is particularly strong in East Westphalia-Lippe: Local companies generated around 3.9 billion euros in turnover last year (minus 6 percent). This accounted for almost two-thirds of the total German turnover of the kitchen industry branch. The number of employees increased by 4 percent to around 10,500.
'The furniture and kitchen furniture manufacturers in North Rhine-Westphalia have responded to the challenging market environment with a lot of flexibility, resilience, and high innovation power,' says Jan Kurth, managing director of the German furniture industry associations. The order situation continues to be cautious. Concerns include the stagnation in new housing construction. Kurth sees cause for cautious optimism in the recovery of the consumer climate. In April 2024, according to GfK, consumer sentiment improved for the third consecutive month at a low level.
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