‘The appointment with the Salone del Mobile.Milano, the most important moment in the wood-furniture business, I like to think of it as the “New Year's Eve” of the sector. A special, unrepeatable and unique moment that kicks off the year of design’ . These were the words of Claudio Feltrin, president of FederlegnoArredo, at the inauguration of the 62nd edition of the Salone del Mobile.Milano. 

Today, the Federation is called upon to face increasingly complicated challenges in an ‘extremely complex moment that the production system is experiencing, due to ongoing conflicts, inflation that is not going down and interest rates that are still too high for companies and families’.

2023 Final figures 

The 2023 final figures drawn up by the FederlegnoArredo Study Centre speak of a 7.8% contraction in the supply chain in 2022, after two years of growth, from 57.2 billion euro in 2022 to the current 52.7. 

The Italian market (EUR 32.8 billion) records -9.6%, while exports close with -4.6%. The trend in the wood macrosystem (EUR 21.6 billion) is mainly impacted by the decrease of 10.5%. Determining the overall figure is the domestic market at Euro 16.5 billion (76% of the total), which marks -11.5%, while exports (Euro 5.1 billion) mark -7.2%. 

Furniture macrosystem 

As far as the furniture macrosystem is concerned, exports are worth around EUR 15 billion in 2023 (53% of the total) and are only slightly down on the previous year by 3.8%, although they remain at a higher level than in 2019 when they were worth just over EUR 12 billion.

The first market is confirmed as France (over 2.4 billion euros, or 16.5% of total exports), followed by the United States with 1.7 billion (11.7% of the total) and a decrease of 8% over '22 , and third is Germany with 1.3 billion and -5.4%. In fourth place was the United Kingdom at -6.4%, in fifth place Switzerland at -3%, while Spain in sixth place was stable. China is confirmed in seventh place with a major setback of 17%. A positive sign for the United Arab Emirates, which is in ninth place with +5.4% (EUR 329 million). In tenth place is the Netherlands with -9.2%. 

The average reduction is therefore mainly determined by the performance of the American, German and Chinese markets. 

Timber-furniture sector data 

Looking at the entire wood-furniture supply chain, the value exported in '23 stood at 20 billion euro, down 4.6% on '22, but still around 2.8 billion euro above 2019 levels. The top 10 destinations accounted for 63% of total exports and were all down, with the exception of Spain and Austria, which were stable, with an overall drop of almost Euro 1 billion.

In first place once again was France (16.3% of the total) with €3.2 billion, essentially stable compared to '22, followed by the United States (10.7% of the total) with €2.1 billion and -10.5%; third was Germany (10.7% of the total) with €2.1 billion and -7%. Fourth is the United Kingdom at -6.6%, followed by Switzerland at -4.2%. Spain stands out with a positive sign of +1.3% ahead of China, which drops by 16.8%. Austria was almost stable, ahead of Belgium in ninth position (-6.1)%, and the Netherlands closed the top ten with 442 million and -8.4%.

China's negative performance 

Among the main markets, the one that suffered the most in 2023, in addition to the United States and Germany, is undoubtedly China, which lost EUR 115 million, performing far worse than the European countries, demonstrating how over the years the Chinese market has had an important expansion, which then came to a halt with Covid and since then has not been able to pick up the pace, as has happened in other markets. Outside the European borders, Egypt (35th position) showed an increase in performance, with the supply chain at +21.2% over '22 and a value of 106 million, and India, which is worth 135 million (29th position) and registers +15.7%; despite its relatively low value, India is a country to watch for potential that is still very difficult to grasp; the Arab Emirates is in 12th place with +3.9% (388 million Euros). Another phenomenon that emerges from the sector's export data concerns Russia, or rather those Russians who, due to the war and having the economic possibilities, have decided to move to other countries, as the figures for Georgia (+54.2%), Kyrgyzstan (+263.3%) and Kazakhstan (+71.3%) would suggest. Also interesting are the movements of the African continent (EUR 588 million, +5.1%) and in particular the countries of the northern belt, which grew by 10.7% for a total value of EUR 349 million.

Wood macrosystem 

As far as the wood macrosystem is concerned, exports (excluding Wood Trade) are worth EUR 5 billion and are down by 7.2 per cent.

The top ten destinations show negative trends, with the exception of Spain which grew by 3% (€225 million) and Austria stable at +0.1% (€172 million). France overtook Germany (EUR 785 million and -9.3%) to become the leading market with EUR 805 million, although it contracted by 1.3%. Third was the United Kingdom (€579 million) at -6.9% ahead of the United States (€411 million), which recorded the most significant drop in the top ten (-19.7%) but maintained its position, while China (-16%) dropped out of the top ten and dropped to 11th place.

Bathroom furnishing system: 4.5% contraction 

After a two-year period of strong dynamism thanks to the extraordinary performance of the residential sector, the bathroom furnishing system will contract by 4.5% in 2023. However, the sector remains at €4.2 billion in turnover, above the pre-Covid figure of €3.4 billion. The drop in exports to Euro 1.7 billion (-6.9%), which accounts for 41% of total turnover, is more marked, while sales on the domestic market are more moderate (-2.8%) at Euro 2.5 billion (59% of turnover). 

Exports of the bathroom furnishing system recorded a negative sign in all the main destinations, with sales to Germany in particular down (-11.8% for 269 million euros), which became the second market behind France (271 million, -3.8%). The United Kingdom (€ 94 million) and Switzerland (€ 88 million) were stable in third and fourth position respectively. There are 22,898 employees and 923 companies.

Kitchen system: slight decrease of 2% 

Whereas in 2022 the turnover in the kitchen sector, thanks to excellent results on both the domestic and foreign markets, had been close to EUR 3 billion, in 2023 it will drop slightly by 2%, although it will remain at a very high level (around EUR 2.94 billion). Production for the Italian market (around 2 billion euro) is the main cause of the contraction at -3.1%, while exports remain stable at 35% with 1 billion euro. France is confirmed as the first market, stable at 196 million euros, a share of about 19% of total exports, followed by the United States with 151 million and +10.2%, and Switzerland in third place with 74 million and stable compared to 2022. Germany is in fifth place with -11.6% and an export value of Euro 50 million. China is seventh with €33 million, +8.1%, while Russia drops to ninth with -13.3%. There are 10,878 employees and 591 companies.