Stable exports: Germany recovers, US struggles under the tariff’s weight
Even in a macroeconomic framework still characterised by uncertainty, which becomes a de facto hidden duty weighing on our companies, the wood-furniture supply chain closes 2025 with a 52.2 billion euros production turnover, recording a 1.3% growth compared to 2024. Contributing to a partially unexpected result is the performance of the domestic market, which, managing to offset the progressive downsizing of some tax incentives linked to the redevelopment of real estate assets, with a greater boost from non-residential, grew by 1.8%, reaching 32.9 billion euros. Exports were stable (+0.4%) at 19.3 billion euros (37% of the total), although showing signs of weakness in some strategic markets such as France and the United States. On the other hand, some signs of improvement and recovery come from Germany.
This is the picture taken by the 2025 Preliminary Figures drawn up by the FederlegnoArredo Study Centre and presented at the press conference for the launch of the Salone del Mobile.Milano in April, which is confirmed as a key event for the entire supply chain.
The furniture macrosystem reaches a production turnover of 27.7 billion euros in 2025, substantially stable (+0.6%) on 2024. The production growth destined for the domestic market (13.5 billion, +2.1%) compensates for the slight decline in exports (14.2 billion, -0.8%), which continues to represent more than half of the total value. The wood macro-system (including the wood trade) grew by 2% to a turnover of 24.5 billion euros. However, the figure is partly determined by price trends and a recovery in exports (5.2 billion, +3.8%). The domestic market (19.3 billion) recorded a +1.5%.
“As far as foreign markets are concerned,” adds President Feltrin, “the data updated to October ’25 show an overall trend of substantial stability, with an estimated value of 19.3 billion euros (+0.4%), confirming the strategic weight of exports on the results of the sector. Of particular interest in the top 10 is Germany, which in the first ten months of 2025 returns with a positive sign (1.7 billion; +1%) while there is still the weakness of France (2.5 billion; -1.3%) which, after the two years ’21-’22 of strong expansion, slows down despite a slight recovery in recent months. The United States mark -2.5% (1.7 billion), after the rebound in 2024, with a monthly trend influenced by the anticipation of purchases in the spring months in view of duties; reabsorbed in July (when the cumulative percentage change was still positive +0.3%), while in the following months exports slowed down sharply, particularly in August and October”.
On the other hand, positive trends are emerging towards some European and non-European markets, which help to partially offset the decline in traditional destinations. Among the countries with the best performance in terms of increase in export value are the United Kingdom (+4.2%), the Netherlands (+8.5%) and Spain (+2.3%), which reaches fifth place in the Top 10 among destination markets, surpassing Switzerland. Markets such as the United Arab Emirates (+3.9%) also grew, confirming a progressive geographical diversification of foreign sales.
In 2025, the kitchen sector recorded a production turnover of 3 billion euros, substantially in line with 2024 (+0.5%), confirming a picture of overall stability after the three years of strong growth that had featured the post-pandemic period. Production destined for the Italian market grew by +3.4% (2 billion). On the other hand, exports (1 billion) are recording a decrease of -5%, after years of particularly sustained expansion. The slowdown in exports particularly affects some key markets, including the United States and France, while more dynamic signals are emerging from countries such as the United Arab Emirates and Spain.
In 2025, the bathroom furniture system recorded a production turnover of 4.3 billion euros, with a growth of +1.5% compared to 2024, confirming a good overall resilience. The positive trend is mainly supported by the domestic market, which grew by +2.2%, while exports remained substantially stable (+0.5%), reaching almost 1.7 billion euros, with an export share of around 40% of the total value. There are signs of recovery from Germany, the first country of destination.
