Destatis reports that German exports to Iran declined 24.5% year-on-year in 2025 to €961.6 million, while imports from Iran edged up 1.7% to €234.5 million. The figures highlight the continuing weakness in trade relations following the reintroduction of extensive US sanctions at the end of 2018.
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Compared with 2018, German exports to Iran have now fallen by 64.3%, while imports are down 46.8%. Iran ranked as Germany's 72nd most important export market in 2025. Germany still recorded a trade surplus with Iran, with machinery among the country's most significant export categories.
While the bilateral trade figures are modest relative to Germany's overall export economy, the broader geopolitical significance is larger, particularly for European manufacturing sectors dependent on stable shipping routes, predictable raw material costs, and reliable industrial demand.
Impact on the European interior and furniture industry
For the European interior, kitchen, and furniture sectors, the data reflects a wider regional challenge rather than simply reduced trade with Iran.
First, ongoing instability linked to Iran and the wider Gulf region increases risks around the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world's most important energy and cargo corridors. Any disruption there can raise oil, gas, and freight costs. That directly affects furniture producers through higher transport expenses, more expensive petrochemical-based materials, and rising factory energy bills.
Second, many interiors manufacturers rely on inputs such as adhesives, laminates, foams, plastics, coatings, textiles, and packaging materials. These products are sensitive to fluctuations in oil-derived chemicals. When regional tensions rise, material prices can become volatile, squeezing already tight margins across European furniture supply chains.
Third, uncertainty weakens business confidence and investment planning. Large hospitality, residential, and retail fit-out projects may be delayed when financing costs rise or developers become cautious. That can soften demand for kitchens, contract furniture, lighting, flooring, and décor products.
Germany, as Europe's largest industrial economy, plays a central role in machinery and component supply to the wider furniture sector. If export markets weaken and manufacturing confidence slows, this can ripple across suppliers in Italy, Poland, Spain, the Netherlands and beyond.
What the industry is likely to do next
Many European interiors businesses are already responding by diversifying suppliers, holding more safety stock, nearshoring selected production, and increasing price discipline. The focus is shifting from lowest-cost sourcing toward resilience, delivery certainty, and margin protection.
So while Germany's export decline to Iran is a specific trade statistic, for the furniture and interior industry it also serves as another signal that geopolitical risk remains a live commercial issue across Europe.
More information:
Destatis
www.destatis.de
