Following a double-digit increase in September (+11.1%), German furniture exports declined marginally again (-0.6%) against last year’s comparative figure in October. An over-proportional decline of -39.4% was recorded for the shop furniture segment in particular, according to the Association of the German furniture industry (VDM).

For the first ten months a 2.1% increase in total furniture exports is recorded compared to the corresponding period in the preceding year. Over the accumulated period, declines were only recorded for office furniture (-14.0%) upholstered furniture (-3.2%) and office furniture (-2.0%). Increases in the other segments ranged from 1.2% for kitchen furniture to a maximum of 5.9% for miscellaneous furniture.

German furniture imports surpassed the preceding year’s figure by almost 0.4% in October. In this connection a significant decline in office furniture (-36.4%) also contrasted with increases in kitchen furniture (+23.3%), office furniture (+11.5%), living room, dining room and bedroom furniture (+6.8%) as well as miscellaneous furniture (+0.7%). Per end of October, imports were up by 0.8%. The increase was due especially to higher imports of office furniture (+13.6%), living room, dining room and bedroom furniture (+7.1%), miscellaneous furniture (+5.1%) and mattresses (+1.1%), and also, although to a lesser extent, to the slight increase in upholstered furniture (+0.3 %).