GERMANY – According to Jan Kurth, Managing Director of the Associations of the German Furniture Industry (VDM/VHK) despite the adverse framework conditions, the German furniture industry held its ground well in 2021.

Sales increased by around 2 percent to 17.5 billion euros and thus developed better than forecast. In addition to large backlogs of orders from 2020, the closures of the furniture trade caused by the pandemic were better compensated for in spring 2021 than when the first lockdown took place in early 2020.

Nevertheless, the industry has not yet reached the pre-Corona level again (2019: 17.9 billion euros Sales volume).

At the same time, the positive demand brought with it great challenges to the German furniture industry. There were significant bottlenecks in many important primary materials last year. German manufacturers are currently still struggling with the consequences of the pandemic-related disruptions in the supply chains. In the most recent association survey, 44 percent of the companies surveyed reported that their production was limited or delayed in January 2022 due to material shortages.

As a result of the fragility of the supply chains, we are observing efforts by German furniture manufacturers to diversify their procurement more and at the same time to further expand purchasing on their home market and within the EU. According to the companies surveyed, procurement in the Asia region is currently proving to be particularly problematic.

In addition, logistics capacities are becoming ever tighter.

Foreign business proved to be a growth driver last year with a sales increase of around 5 percent to 5.6 billion euros. Against the background of the long phase of trade closures – the second lockdown lasted from mid-December 2020 to May 2021 – domestic sales rose by only 0.5 percent to 11.9 billion euros.