The wood-furniture supply chain closes 2025 with production turnover exceeding \u20ac52.2 billion, marking a 1.4% increase compared to 2024, confirming a phase of stabilisation following the slowdown of the previous two years. The supply chain currently includes more than 62,000 companies and over 292,000 employees, representing 4.3% of national manufacturing turnover, 14.5% of companies, and 7.6% of employment, with a 2.3% contribution to GDP.<\/p>\n
Growth in 2025 is mainly supported by the domestic market, which reaches nearly \u20ac33 billion (+2%), thanks to the resilience of the residential segment and greater dynamism in the non-residential sector, despite the gradual reduction of housing-related tax incentives.<\/p>\n
Exports remain broadly stable (+0.4%) at over \u20ac19.3 billion. In a complex international environment marked by uneven trends between mature markets and new destinations, the picture emerging from the final data processed by the FederlegnoArredo Study Centre is that of a supply chain that is overall resilient, with a certain solidity in the domestic market.<\/p>\n
\u201c2025 therefore marks a return to growth for our supply chain, but it is very likely that this represents a fragile, temporary balance. And it could hardly be otherwise, given such a complex economic and geopolitical context, subject to rapid changes that make any long-term forecasts or reasoning practically ineffective,\u201d commented Claudio Feltrin, President of FederlegnoArredo.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt should also be noted that the overall positive performance of the supply chain is largely supported by the domestic market, which therefore seems to have been less affected than expected by the end of construction-related tax incentives. Meanwhile, exports are showing signs of slowdown in traditional markets, starting with the United States (\u20ac2 billion) and France (\u20ac2.9 billion), which close 2025 at -3.9% and -1.5%, respectively. The United States, which represents almost 75% of the supply chain\u2019s exports to the continent, with a 10.7% share of total exports, has a decisive influence on the overall performance of the area.\u201d<\/p>\n
On the export front, Europe confirms itself as the main outlet, accounting for over 66% of the total: France, while maintaining first place in the top ten, records a slight decline after years of strong growth; Germany (\u20ac1.9 billion) shows signs of recovery, especially in the second half of the year, allowing it to close 2025 at +2%.<\/p>\n
The positive trend continues for Spain (\u20ac864 million, +1.7%), which overtakes Switzerland (\u20ac860 million) in the top ten, while outside the EU the United Kingdom (\u20ac1.3 billion) records solid growth of +3.7%.<\/p>\n
The United Arab Emirates (\u20ac497 million), thanks to its positive performance in 2025 (+5.8%), overtakes China (\u20ac465 million, -5.9%) to reach seventh place. Finally, Austria and the Netherlands close the top ten with increases of +0.2% and +7.1%, respectively.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs we can see, exports as a whole are holding up for now, albeit with a changing geographical distribution of our supply chain: traditional markets such as France and the United States are slowing, while others are growing, for example Africa (+13.8%), the United Arab Emirates (+5.8%), and Canada (+6.9%).<\/p>\n
At the same time, a warning signal is coming from the US: furniture exports in January 2026 show a -28.5% decline compared to January 2024.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the EU has seen imports from China increase by +1.3%, while other non-EU countries (excluding China) decline by -1.6%, with a shift in market shares.<\/p>\n
We will understand in the coming months whether this is an exception or a trend; in any case, it is a clear signal of the need to further diversify our international presence, capturing new opportunities in less traditional markets.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe issue of international competitiveness therefore remains central, requiring industrial policies and export support measures to diversify and consolidate results, enabling Made in Italy design to continue contributing actively to the country\u2019s trade balance. This transformation represents both a challenge and an opportunity.<\/p>\n
The Salone del Mobile in April is therefore an even more strategic event for companies of all sizes: it is the place where, with minimal effort, maximum results are achieved in direct engagement with the market. There is no physical, digital or showroom alternative capable of offering the same concentration of opportunities and visibility.\u201d<\/p>\n
Regarding the Middle East area, directly or indirectly affected by conflict, it accounts for 7% of total exports and recorded an overall decline of -1.5% at the end of 2025, despite positive contributions from the United Arab Emirates and Israel, which were not sufficient to offset the decline in Saudi Arabia (-19.7%).<\/p>\n
These figures precede the outbreak of war and show that the region\u2014excluding Saudi Arabia\u2014would have grown by +3.3%.<\/p>\n
Furniture system: stability supported by the domestic market, exports slowing<\/p>\n
The furniture system closes 2025 with turnover of over \u20ac27.7 billion (+0.9%). The contribution of the Italian market (+2.7%), equal to \u20ac13.5 billion, is decisive, while exports (\u20ac14.2 billion) record a slight decline (-0.8%), reflecting difficulties in key markets, particularly the United States and France.<\/p>\n
France, the top destination, closes the year at -1.6%, while the United States, the second-largest market and the main non-European destination, records the most significant decline (-4.9%, equivalent to \u20ac83 million less than in 2024).<\/p>\n
Germany remains stable in third place (-0.1%), while the United Kingdom, in fourth place, records +1.7%.<\/p>\n
The trade balance remains strongly positive and growing, approaching \u20ac9 billion, confirming the strategic role of furniture in the supply chain\u2019s trade balance. The sector includes just over 20,200 companies and more than 138,500 employees.<\/p>\n
Bathroom furnishings and kitchens<\/strong><\/p>\n The bathroom furnishings system stands out with growth of +2.1%, reaching turnover of just under \u20ac4.3 billion. The result is supported by both the domestic market (+2%) and exports (+2.2%), which return to growth mainly thanks to European demand, particularly strong in Germany.<\/p>\n The kitchen segment also shows a positive trend, exceeding \u20ac3 billion in turnover (+1.5%). In this case, growth is driven exclusively by the Italian market (+5%), while exports decline (-5%), affected in particular by the slowdown in key foreign markets such as France and the United States.<\/p>\n Overall, both segments confirm that domestic demand continues to represent a key stabilising factor in an still uncertain international environment, while also highlighting the need to strengthen positioning in foreign markets to support medium-term growth.<\/p>\n Wood system: growth driven by prices, exports increase<\/strong><\/p>\n The wood system (including wood trade) records turnover of \u20ac24.5 billion (+1.9%), with growth driven mainly by price increases rather than volumes, highlighting still weak demand.<\/p>\n Exports show a positive trend (+3.6%), but the segment remains penalised by a strong increase in imports (+13.6%).<\/p>\n Focus on Africa<\/strong><\/p>\n Africa accounts for more than \u20ac600 million and is the continent with the highest percentage growth in 2025 (+13.8%), supported by several countries recording significant increases. However, only Morocco exceeds the \u20ac100 million export threshold.<\/p>\n Among regions, North Africa is the most important, with a value exceeding \u20ac378 million and the strongest performance (+18.6%, compared to +6.5% in other African countries).<\/p>\n Noteworthy performances are also recorded in Nigeria (+30.3%) and South Africa (+9.2%).<\/p>\n Focus on Asia<\/strong><\/p>\n Asia accounts for nearly \u20ac3 billion and represents 14.6% of Italian exports in the wood-furniture supply chain. It is the second-largest export region, and in 2025 all major sub-regions\u2014Middle East, East Asia, and Central Asia\u2014show a negative trend.<\/p>\n The decline is more pronounced in East Asia (-6.8%), mainly due to China\u2019s performance, while South Korea and Japan also record decreases.<\/p>\n The Middle East records a more limited decline (-1.5%): the United Arab Emirates and Israel grow, but their positive performance is not sufficient to offset the drop in Saudi Arabia.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":98423,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"Default","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5204],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-98422","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n