According to official statistics, the German furniture industry achieved sales of around 3.9 billion euros in the first quarter of this year, a decline of 4.6 percent compared to the same period last year. Domestically, domestic furniture manufacturers generated sales of 2.6 billion euros, around 5 percent less. At just under 1.3 billion euros, foreign sales were around 3 percent below the same period last year. The export quota remained unchanged at around 33 percent. The kitchen furniture industry showed initial signs of stabilisation in the first quarter with a comparatively small decline in sales of 1.8 percent to just under 1.4 billion euros, which can also be seen from the slightly positive order intake so far this year. In the month of March, sales in the entire German furniture industry rose slightly by 0.6 percent.
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'In the first quarter, our industry continued to feel the great uncertainty among consumers as a result of the political crises and the increased cost of living, which is apparently only being overcome in small steps,' notes Jan Kurth, Managing Director of the Associations of the German Furniture Industry (VDM/VHK). 'People in Germany currently prefer to put their money aside rather than invest it in consumer goods.' According to GfK, the consumer climate brightened slightly in April, but remained at a low level. The mood in the German furniture industry also rose slightly in April, as reported by the Ifo Institute. Accordingly, the use of short-time work fell noticeably. While 44 percent of the furniture manufacturers surveyed by the association had registered short-time work in the first quarter of this year, only 20 percent of companies are planning to use this instrument in the current second quarter.
In the first quarter, the segment of other furniture (including living, dining and bedroom furniture) and furniture parts declined by 3.8 percent. Office and shop furniture manufacturers recorded a 6.3 percent drop in sales. Upholstered furniture manufacturers generated 9.8 percent less sales than in the same quarter of the previous year. In the mattress segment, there was a loss of 18.3 percent. Overall, the number of furniture companies (with 50 or more employees) fell by 3.5 percent to 401; the number of employees fell by 4 percent to 69,159.
'Now that Germany has a government capable of acting again, the US trade conflict has been temporarily defused and inflation has weakened, we are counting on a further improvement in consumer sentiment in the coming months and a revival of furniture demand in the autumn,' says Kurth. With a view to the government programme, the industry is pushing for the rapid implementation of the measures agreed in the coalition agreement to stimulate housing construction, reduce bureaucracy and provide tax relief for the economy and consumers. 'We wish the new Minister of Construction, Verena Hubertz, every success and assertiveness in ensuring more living space very quickly. In addition to accelerating the approval procedures, however, we also need to bundle and intensify the funding measures,' says Kurth.
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