Has been in the international leading position German furniture, with the advantages of rigorous manufacturing, is almost synonymous with precision and high quality. The three major characteristics of German furniture: simple style, practical function, and excellent workmanship. Paying attention to the texture and color of furniture materials is the manufacturing criterion. The excellent quality makes German furniture known as "rational furniture". In 2022, the European economy can be said to be struggling. Inflation has reached record highs, energy supply is tight, and economic recovery is slow. As the main market for furniture consumers and furniture importers in Western European countries, the German furniture industry is also going through extraordinary times. While the demand in the furniture market has weakened, the sales of furniture have increased, mainly due to price changes, which also reflects the sharp increase in raw material and energy costs to a certain extent.
The labor cost in Germany is relatively high, and furniture production is labor-intensive, while in China, the labor cost is relatively low, so the German furniture The production demand part will be carried out in China. According to estimates, one out of ten pieces of furniture sold in Germany is imported from China. In recent years, imported furniture sales accounted for an increasing proportion of German furniture sales. In 2022, the proportion will be close to 52%. In 2022, the foreign trade deficit of the German furniture industry will be about 2 billion euros, an increase of 1.7% over the previous year. Among them, furniture exports increased by about 3% to 8.7 billion euros, and furniture imports increased by nearly 3% to 10.7 billion euros. In 2022, in terms of import source countries, China will continue to take the lead in seizing the German market and become Germany's largest source of furniture imports. The furniture import value will increase by 6.0% year-on-year to 3.215 billion euros. Followed by Poland, the export value of furniture to Germany was 2.923 billion euros, with a growth rate of only 0.1%.
"Made in Germany" furniture is especially popular abroad. In recent years, the export of German furniture industry has shown a positive development trend. In 2000, German furniture exports accounted for 16.3% of furniture sales, but this proportion increased to 33.3% by 2022, which means that almost one-third of the furniture produced by German furniture manufacturers is exported abroad market. In 2022, overseas sales will rise by around 3% to 8.7 billion euros. The main export destination countries are some European countries. France remained number one among the most important export markets, down slightly by 3.4%, followed by Switzerland, Austria and the Netherlands. Other important European export markets such as Belgium, Italy, Poland, Spain and the Czech Republic also saw significant growth. Among them, furniture exports to the Netherlands increased by 10.3% year-on-year to 1.005 billion euros, and exports to Switzerland increased by 7.3% year-on-year to 1.257 billion euros. After the signing of the trade agreement with the European Union, the British market recovered unexpectedly quickly and became the fifth largest export market for German furniture. Exports to the UK increased by 6.9% year-on-year to 537 million euros. The most important non-European market for German furniture manufacturers remains the United States, where furniture sales amounted to 279 million euros, a year-on-year increase of 10.7%.
Table 1 Overview of German furniture import and export in 2022 (million euros)
Data source: German Furniture Industry Association
Affected by a series of factors such as a sharp drop in energy prices, reduced purchasing power losses, and improved supply bottlenecks, the German economic situation may remain optimistic in 2023. Four authoritative economic research institutions in Germany have announced that they have raised their forecasts for German economic growth in 2023. According to forecasts, Germany's GDP will grow by 0.3% in 2023 and by 1.5% in 2024. But at the same time, the development of the construction industry, which is closely related to the furniture industry, is still slowing down, especially the demand for residential construction will remain weak. In the case of the domestic market being saturated and shrinking for a long time, strengthening the export capacity has become the way for the industry to survive. In order to strengthen the position of the German furniture industry, the next few years must be carried out.Further expand exports.
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