According to the Association of the German Furniture Industry (VDM), German furniture exports increased again by 1.3% in March 2017. This followed a significant decrease of 10.1% in February. Nevertheless, in March increases could only be recorded in the case of kitchen furniture (+15.0%) and other seating furniture (+6.2%). Decreases were recorded for all other segments. At -19.8%, mattress exports declined most significantly. Exports of shop furniture also decreased in the double-digit range
(-16.6%). Declines in living room, dining room and bedroom furniture (-4.4%), miscellaneous furniture (-4.2%), upholstered furniture (-2.7%) as well as office furniture (-1.9%) were, in contrast, more moderate. In the first quarter of this year German furniture exports declined overall by 2.2%.
German furniture imports increased slightly by 0.8% in March. The highest rate of increase was also recorded for kitchen furniture at 14.0%. Increases were also recorded in the case of imports of other seating furniture (+5.0%), upholstered furniture (+2.0%) and office furniture (+0.7%). Imports of shop furniture (-23.3%) and mattresses (-19.2%), by contrast, declined significantly. Decreases in imports of living room, dining room and bedroom furniture (-5.4%) and miscellaneous furniture (-1.4%) were also recorded. Accumulated over the first three months, furniture imports decreased by a total of 4.7%.