ITALY – According figures presented at the recent CSIL World Furniture Outlook  seminar, world furniture production amounted to over USD 400 billion in 2017, up 3% on the previous year and cumulatively growing by 25% in the last decade.

Asia Pacific stands out in a global comparison, with over half of world production taking place in the region with China being the main producer with over 70% of the regional production. Within Asia, Vietnam is an important player. According to CSIL data, it is the 5th largest furniture exporter in the world and a fast growing producer in Asia, Vietnam production growth is higher than the Chinese growth.

Europe is the second largest producing region in the world. According to CSIL estimates presented at the seminar, the region accounts for around 25% of the total sector world output down from around 40% a decade ago.

North America emerged in CSIL world picture for its recent positive performance. Furniture production has been increasing in the last five year period which was the object of CSIL analysis (growing faster than in Europe). The U.S. was the driving force of the area, driven by the positive performance of this market. Local sources seem to be optimistic for the coming years, even if issues related to trade policy of the U.S. administration constitute an important element of uncertainty weighting on the scenario.

Furniture and furniture components are increasingly traded on a world scale. Presently, international trade is worth around USD 140 billion according to CSIL estimates and is set to grow in the coming years up to 2020. This is an important engine for sector growth. The main drivers are: the presence of international value chains, the global sourcing strategy operated by leading retailers and manufacturers and the increasing import penetration in several markets. On the other side, the uncertainty of trade policies and the presence of tariffs and technical barriers are seen as the main obstacles.