Italian wood furniture consumption receives boost from national economy

Source:
ITTO/Fordaq
Views:
1245
  • text size

According to the latest Eurostat data, EU wood furniture consumption increased 3% to Euro36.7 billion in 2016.

This compares to the preliminary estimate of Euro36.1 billion reported in May.

The latest Eurostat data reveals that wood furniture consumption in Italy increased by more than 10% in 2016, to Euro5.7 billion, recovering ground lost the previous year. This is a much larger increase than initially predicted given widespread reports of slow economic growth and weak consumer confidence in the country.

However, Italian furniture consumption last year was boosted by the Italian Stability law implemented in January 2016 to support the national economy. The law included tax credits for building renovation work, including a bonus for new furniture, and direct public support for the “Made in Italy” brand.

These gains offset a 4% decline in consumption in the UK, a trend widely forecast owing to the economic uncertainty and weakness of the British pound following the Brexit vote.

Intra-EU furniture trade continues to rise

Analysis of Eurostat trade data reveals that internal EU trade in wood furniture, which increased 4% to Euro16.2 billion in 2016, continued to rise in 2017. This trend is driven both by the slow rise in EU consumption and by rising dependence of the internal EU market on manufacturers located in lower cost member states of Eastern Europe, particularly Poland, Romania, and Lithuania.

The EU has maintained a trade surplus in wood furniture since 2011 when exports to non-EU countries overtook imports from outside the EU. This surplus remained broadly flat between the start of 2015 and the first quarter of 2016 (averaging close to Euro3 billion per annum), as both imports and exports were stable.

However, there were some early signs of a slight narrowing in the trade surplus in the second quarter of 2017 (to around Euro2.8 billion per annum) as imports began to pick up.

Post comment