China remains the World’s largest market for furniture of all types and exports more than any other country. No surprise there but what are the figures for different furniture types and other countries. Let’s take a brief look.

In 2016 around 25 million kitchens were manufactured around the World; up just over 3% from 2015. For such a large country, Russian kitchen production was less than one million. Worldwide trade accounted for just under two million kitchens at a value of USD$5.6 billion. Germany leads the exports of kitchens with companies such as Nobilia, Hacker and Poggenpohl. The USA is one of the largest importers of kitchens at a value of just about a third of all exported World-wide production. The kitchen sector is less susceptible to imported product due to the different standards in size and other technical issues that can vary from country to country.

In 2017, the kitchen furniture market in China reached a value of US$ 5.8 billion and accounts for around 5% of the world furniture market. While there are more than 1,000 kitchen brands operating in China; most of the production is made by the top 50 companies and this amounts to almost 60% of the total value. Ikea is listed in the top 10 and Nobilia and Hacker are among the top players. Poggenpohl ranks amongst the top companies in the luxury market. Approximately 3.3 million kitchens were manufactured in the country but a mere 617 were exported. China’s kitchen furniture market is more disjointed than traditional household furniture. Both exports and imports of kitchen furniture have remained constant since 2016 with exports far outweighing imported product.

In terms of furniture imports for all furniture types, the USA has steadily been increasing its imported product since 2011 and is viewed as the main instrument of growth in the international furniture trade. Germany; the United Kingdom; France and Canada have all remained steady with Germany importing more furniture than the other three countries.

Upholstered furniture follows the import trends for furniture of all types with the USA steadily increasing its imported product. Germany; France; United Kingdom; Canada and Japan all remain stable. Upholstered furniture accounts for 16% of total World furniture production; worth around USD$63 billion. Again, the largest markets are China; the United States, Germany and the United Kingdom.

Office furniture production was valued at almost USD$50 billion in 2017 with 45% of the total production being produced in the Asia Pacific region. Representing about 12% of the World’s total furniture production, eight countries with the top three being China, USA and Germany, produce 80% of the total production.