The industry consists of three major components: manufactures, retailers and the consumer. Looking at the first component, manufacturers dealt with significant losses when the economic crisis of 2008 hit the industry. In the past decade, the number of manufacturing enterprises in the European Union remained relatively stable. However, the coronavirus crisis in 2020 was expected to affect this number.
Consumer expenditure on furniture has been increasing steadily in recent years. For instance, in the UK, consumers spent approximately 12 billion euros on furniture and furnishings in 2012, which increased to more than 14 billion in 2020. Austrians are the most avid consumers of furniture in the EU, with furniture spending making up a 2.9 percent share of their total household spending in 2020. Other countries with high furniture spending are Germany and the Netherlands.
IKEA, a major furniture retailer specializing in ready-to-assemble furniture, kitchen appliances and home accessories, enjoyed a steady growth in the 21st century. Back in 2001, the annual revenue of IKEA counted at approximately ten billion euros. In 2021, their revenue had quadrupled to roughly 42 billion euros. Furthermore, IKEA has not only been generating a tremendous amount of revenue, it is also the eighth-most valuable retailer in the world, valued at roughly 21 billion U.S. dollars.
The industry dealt with losses and difficulties during the economic crisis, but recovered well during the decade after. More recently, the coronavirus crisis in 2020 likely impacted the furniture industry in a negative way. Hand-made, eco-friendly products are one of the leading trends nowadays in the industry, pushing to expand boundaries and introduce innovations, hopefully carrying the industry beyond the coronavirus crisis.
