Italian furniture sales to the UK collapse

16th February | imports | The volume of furniture British retailers are bringing in from Italy has declined sharply according to the Italian furniture trade body Federlegno-Arredo.

Together with the United States and Germany, Britain represents one of Italy’s most important export markets, but all three showed steep falls during 2008.

Italian furniture exports were worth about £12bn in 2008. This is just 2% below 2007 levels, but increased demand from Russia, Ukraine and the United Arab Emirates masked the sales’ shortfall in Italy’s traditionally strong export markets.

Overall sales of home furnishings products, including the Italian domestic market, were worth £33bn – a 4.5% fall on the previous year.

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