The economic situation in Sweden continues to affect the wood and furniture industry. This is shown by recent half-year statistics from TMF, the Swedish Wood and Furniture Association. The recession that initially affected house builders has now spread further to the building equipment industry and it is high time for the government to overcome the structural vulnerability of housing construction, according to the industry.
The challenging recession of recent years initially mainly affected the housing industry. The housing sector is still struggling, with total orders for detached houses (single and group) down by 1.5 percent for the first half of 2024 – compared to the corresponding period in 2023. The number of apartment buildings also decreased - 852 apartments with wooden frames were started during the first half of the year, a decrease of 51 percent compared to 2023.
© Dreamstime
Photo: Dreamstime.
'Now the construction of new housing, but also the pace of renovation, needs to get off to a good start through investments and continued lowering of the policy rate,' says Erik Haara, CEO of TMF, who also wants the government to develop countercyclical reforms after decades of neglected housing policy.
'Reforms are needed here and now to speed up housing construction, but also political tools to overcome the structural vulnerability of housing construction in the long term,' he emphasises.
The overall picture of the wood and furniture industry's figures for the first half of 2024 is that the economy is now also affecting the interior design sector – especially the kitchen side. The reporting companies for kitchen furnishings had a very positive development until 2022, but it turned downward in 2023 – something that continued in 2024 as well. The invoiced, accumulated turnover is now at similar levels as in 2017. Total sales of kitchen frames decreased by 21.9 percent to SEK 2.5 billion in the first half of 2024 compared with the same period in 2023.
'The sharp decline we are seeing in the kitchen furnishing industry does not come as a surprise given the reduced demand for renovations and new construction. Now we see levels on par with 2017, which underlines the impact that the current economy has had,' says Sandra Furtenbach, Project Manager Kitchen & Bath at TMF.
The industry groups in building furnishings also have really challenging figures. Doors, windows and wooden floors decreased by between 12 and 40 percent in terms of invoiced sales and sales. Trappor has as much as -43 percent reduced sales in the first half of 2024 compared to the 2023 period.
However, one industry group within TMF is more stable than others – namely office furniture. Exports had an unchanged development to approximately SEK 1.6 billion in the first half of 2024. On the other hand, total furniture exports decreased by six percent, compared with 2023.
More information:
TMF
info@tmf.se
www.tmf.se