The economic situation in Sweden continues to affect the wood and furniture industry - this is shown by recent half-yearly statistics from TMF, the Wood and Furniture Companies. The recession that initially affected housebuilders has now spread to the interior design industry and it is high time for the government to overcome the structural vulnerability of housing construction, the industry believes.
The challenging recession of recent years primarily affected the housing industry at first. The housing sector is still struggling, with total orders for single-family homes (detached and group-built) down 1.5 percent for the first half of 2024 – compared to the corresponding period in 2023. The number of apartment buildings also fell - 852 timber-framed apartments were started in the first half of the year, down 51 percent compared to 2023.
Photo: Dreamstime.
'Now the construction of new homes, but also the pace of renovations, needs to get off to a good start through investments and continued lowering of the key interest rate,' says Erik Haara, CEO of TMF, who also wants the government to introduce reforms to balance the economy after decades of delayed housing policy.
Both 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 fittings had a very positive development until 2022, but it turned downward in 2023 - something that continued in 2024. The invoiced, accumulated turnover is now at similar levels to 2017. Total sales of kitchen frames decreased by 21.9 percent to SEK 2.5 billion in the first half of 2024 compared to the same period in 2023.
'The sharp decline we see in the kitchen furnishing industry does not come as a surprise, given the reduced demand for renovations and new builds. Now we see levels on a par with 2017, which underlines the impact that the current economy had,' says Sandra Furtenbach, Kitchen & Bath project manager at TMF.
Even the industry groups within building furnishings have really challenging figures. Doors, windows and wooden floors decrease by between 12 and 40 percent in terms of invoiced sales and turnover. Stairs have 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. However, total furniture exports decreased by six percent, compared to 2023.
More information:
TMF
www.tmf.se