Author: Hahn, Sebastian

According to official figures, the German furniture industry turned over 16.4 billion euros last year, 7.4 percent less than in the previous year. Domestic furniture manufacturers recorded sales of just under 11 billion euros, a drop of 6.8 percent. Foreign sales (export ratio: 33 percent) fell by 8.6 percent to 5.4 billion euros.

“In addition to the gloomy consumer climate, our companies are being hit particularly hard by the consequences of the decline in new housing construction,” comments Jan Kurth, Managing Director of the German Furniture Industry Associations (VDM/VHK). “Together with other associations and companies from the construction, furniture and furnishing industries, we have therefore recently launched a new initiative with which we are calling on the future German government to provide the urgently needed impetus for increased residential construction.”(www.deutschlands-heimische-wirtschaftskraft.de).

Of the individual segments of the German furniture industry, office and store furniture manufacturers recorded the smallest losses last year, with a drop in sales of around 4%. In the kitchen furniture industry, sales were 6.5 percent down on the previous year. Manufacturers of mattresses recorded a decline of around 5 percent. The upholstered furniture industry recorded a drop of around 8 percent. The other furniture segment (including living room, dining room and bedroom furniture) and furniture parts suffered an 11.2% drop in sales.

Due to the weak consumer climate and faltering construction activity, sales fell in most European markets last year. Exports to France, the most important export market, fell by almost 7 percent to around 1.3 billion euros. Deliveries to Switzerland (minus 6.2 percent), Austria (minus 8.1 percent), the Netherlands (minus 11.9 percent) and the United Kingdom (minus 2.9 percent) also declined. Furniture deliveries to the United States, the most important sales region for furniture “Made in Germany” outside Europe, were up 1.3% on the previous year at EUR 253 million. In the course of the joint trade fair activities, sales of kitchen furniture in particular developed positively here with an increase of around 13%.

The internal order intake statistics of the furniture associations reflect the overall weak demand for furniture. On average, the kitchen, upholstered and home furniture sectors recorded a decline in the value of incoming orders of just under 5 percent last year. The tense order situation is also having an impact on employment in the sector: On average over the year, 71,231 people were employed in the 414 companies with 50 or more employees (minus 3.8 percent), 5.4 percent fewer than in the previous year.

“For the coming months, we initially expect our sector to move sideways,” reports Kurth. “We then hope for a slight upturn in the fall of this year.” With a further slowdown in inflation, a noticeable rise in real incomes, the expected further interest rate cuts by the European Central Bank and impetus from foreign business, the furniture purchases that have been postponed recently could finally be implemented, according to Kurth. For 2025 as a whole, the association’s managing director is forecasting low sales growth in the low single-digit percentage range for the German furniture industry.