For the wood-furniture supply chain, 2021 was a banner year, as the preliminary figures drawn up a short time ago by the FederlegnoArredo study center had already shown.
This is now confirmed by the final figures that highlight a recovery in the sector that has already started in the last months of 2020: the production turnover of the entire sector, amounting to 49.3 billion euros, increased overall in value by 25.5 percent over 2020, confirming the double-digit figure also over 2019 with a plus of 14 percent, equal to about 6 billion more in turnover and a trade balance of 8.2 billion.
Determining the overall figure is yes the trend of exports, which account for 37 percent of total turnover and have a value of more than 18 billion euros, (plus 20.6 percent over 2020 and plus 7.3 percent over 2019), but it is above all the dynamism of the Italian market, which has touched 31 billion euros (plus 28.7 percent over 2020, plus 18.4 percent over 2019), undoubtedly driven by the building bonuses put in place by the government that have had a driving impact on all the furniture and wood sectors related to the residential sector.
After the global economic crisis that hit Italy and beyond hard in 2020, 2021 represented, despite considerable difficulties (raw materials, high energy prices, logistics and transport), an important year in consolidating the recovery of the sector, and for Italy this also meant a reinvigorated export dynamic. It is obvious that given the current situation it becomes difficult, not to say impossible, to hazard forecasts for the current year and the real risk is that an abrupt slowdown in consumption and the climate of uncertainty and concern due to the war in Ukraine, will nullify the recovery in 2021. Nevertheless, the commitment of companies is always directed toward the search for innovative products and materials, new markets and a new development of the sector that has sustainability as an indispensable element for international competitiveness.
