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Furniture trade to grow by 7%

The new edition of the WorldFurniture Outlook by CSIL covers the 60 most important countries and provides a broad overview of the status and prospects of the furniture industry worldwide.

With 4.6 billion inhabitants (roughly 75 percent of the world population), they account for 92 percent of world trade of goods and for almost all world furniture production in terms of value. The international furniture trade of this group of 60 countries will amount to about US$76 billion in 2005. This corresponds to about 1 percent of world trade of manufacturers.

The United States, Italy, Germany, Japan, Canada, the United Kingdom and France together produce 59 percent in value of the world total, which is worth about US$ 220 billion in 2004.

Furniture production of all developed countries combined covers 77 percent of the world total, whereas furniture production in emerging countries amounts to 23 percent of the world total in value.

The leading furniture importers are the United States, Germany, the United Kingdom, France and Japan. The major furniture exporters are Italy, China, Germany, Canada and Poland. 

The relative positions of the main exporting countries have changed considerably between 1995 and 2004. Italy remains in first position but China moves from 10th to 2nd, Canada from 5th to 4th, Poland from 8th to 5th and the US from 3rd to 6th.

As a consequence of the opening of the main furniture markets in the last 10 years, international trade of furniture until 2000 has grown faster than furniture production and faster than international trade of manufacturers.

The year 2001 saw a contraction for international furniture trade, but growth resumed in 2002, as well as in 2003 and 2004.

In 2005 and 2006 the world GDP will continue to grow at a fast pace and so will international trade of manufactured goods.

World trade of furniture is expected to grow by 6 percent in 2005 and by 7 percent in 2006 in current dollars. World trade of furniture would then amount to US$ 76 billion in 2005 and US$ 82 billion in 2006. The apparent consumption per capita of furniture at production prices ranges from an average of US$9 per year in emerging countries to US$195 per year in developed countries. The worldwide average is US$47 per year.

The 25 members of the European Union(plus Norway and Switzerland) and North America are responsible for 75 percent of furniture consumption although the population is only 19 percent of the total. Asia and the Pacific, on the other hand, have 3 billion inhabitants (66 percent of the total) who represent 20 percent of total furniture consumption.

Major furniture trading countries can be classified in three groups:

¡ñLarge producers for international consumption, with high per capita income, high labour costs and a structurally negative balance of trade: the United States, Germany, Japan, France and the United Kingdom.

These countries together account for 58 percent of world consumption. The furniture trade deficit of this group of countries is rising fast, mainly because of the United States, where the deficit increased from US$ 4.6 billion in 1995 to US$16.3 billion in 2003.

¡ñLarge producers for both internal consumption and exports. Despite high per capita incomes and high labour costs, they have some specific comparative advantages: Canada and Scandinavia have ample forestry resources; Italy benefits from the peculiar organization into productive districts with many small companies.

The exports/production ratios of these countries are above 50 percent: Canada exports 45 percent of production (mainly to the United States), Italy 44% and Scandinavian countries an average of 67 percent. Italy and Canada have surpluses in the balance of furniture trade amounting to US$8.1 billion and US$1.5 billion, respectively.

¡ñLarge emerging producers dedicated to exports, thanks to the low cost of labour: countries in Asia (China, Indonesia and Malaysia), some of the new EU members (Poland, Czech Republic) and two countries in Latin America (Mexico, Brazil). All these countries have a furniture trade surplus and a very high propensity for furniture exports: Poland, Indonesia and Malaysia export more than three quarters of their production, and China increased its degree of openness to the international market (in terms of exports over production ratios) from 16 percent in 1995 to 36 percent in 2003.
 


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