The Italy-based furniture industry research association\u00a0CSIL analysis of world furniture trade, which draws on data from the world's 70 largest economies, indicates that total trade value was US$128 billion in 2013, around 1% of all global trade in manufactured products. The leading furniture importers during the year were the United States, Germany, France, the UK and Canada.<\/p>\n
The annual trend in global furniture trade reported by CSIL is shown in Chart 6. In the period 2004 to 2008, global trade was rising driven primarily by imports into the United States, with smaller increases into the United Kingdom, France, Germany and Canada.<\/p>\n
Trade declined during the financial crises in 2009, but there was uninterrupted growth in the 2010 to 2013 period. This was driven mainly by recovery in North America and growth in emerging markets. The European market remained relatively weak during this period, although there was some growth in imports into Germany and the UK.<\/p>\n
CSIL estimates that growth in global trade continued into 2014 and projected a further increase to close to US$140 billion in 2015. Import penetration for furniture (measured as the ratio between imports and consumption) is presently about 30% on a world scale.<\/p>\n
According to CSIL, the main furniture exporting countries in 2013 were China, Italy, Germany, Poland and the United States. The relative positions of the main exporting countries changed considerably between 2004 and 2013. CSIL highlight that a significant proportion of furniture trade is more accurately described as \u201cintra-regional\u201d rather than truly \u201cinternational\u201d. This is particularly true of Europe.<\/p>\n
China has become the world's leading exporter, overtaking Italy which is currently in second position. Between 2004 and 2013 China increased share of global furniture trade from 14% to 38%. Another major change is the rapid emergence of Vietnam, which jumped from 15th to 6th position in the period 2004 to 2013.<\/p>\n
CSIL highlight that a significant proportion of furniture trade is more accurately described as \u201cintra-regional\u201d rather than truly \u201cinternational\u201d. This is particularly true of Europe.<\/p>\n
In the EU plus Norway, Switzerland and Iceland, 76% of trade takes place between countries within the region and only 24% is with countries in other parts of the world. In the NAFTA area (USA, Canada and Mexico), about 27% of foreign furniture trade is within the three countries and 73% is with countries outside the region.<\/p>\n
In the Asia and Pacific region, about 39% of furniture trade is within the region.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Italy-based furniture industry research association\u00a0CSIL analysis of world furniture trade, which draws on data from the world’s 70 largest economies, indicates that total trade value was US$128 billion in 2013, around 1% of all global trade in manufactured products. … Continue reading