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that geolocation information is available if required, but they sharp decline in demand starting in the second half of 2022
will not be able to access the data themselves. and continuing throughout 2023.
Both FSC and PEFC have also revised their deforestation/ These trends are all evident in the changing value of
forest land conversion cut-off date, after which they cannot production, trade, and consumption of wood furniture in the

be certified to the end of 2020 to match the EUDR. The FSC EU27+UK in recent years.
proviso is that forest restitution and restoration has taken After the sharp upturn in the European market for wood
place between its earlier 1994 cut-off point and the new date. furniture in 2021, when large investments were made in home
FSC and PEFC stress that their certification schemes will improvement during the Covid-19 pandemic, production and
not give business a ‘green lane’ through the EUDR. It will be consumption fell back respectively by 11 percent and 12
the responsibility of individual certified companies to undertake percent in 2022.
the requisite due diligence. But they claim the adaptation Production and consumption then fell by another eight
of their systems and standards to its requirements will go a percent and 11 percent respectively in 2023. In 2023, wood
long way in aiding and providing guidance on compliance. furniture production in the EU27+UK was valued at €39.7

billion while consumption was €39.4 billion.
European wooden furniture consumption fell 11% in Other than in 2020, when the market fell sharply at the
2023 height of the Covid-19 pandemic, such low levels had not
The last four years, marked from the start of 2020 by the been since 2014 when Europe was emerging from the 2010-
Covid-19 pandemic and from February 2022 by war in 2012 Sovereign Debt crises.
Ukraine, have seen unprecedented changes in Europe’s These figures underline the extent of the downturn in the
wood furniture sector. European economy.

During this relatively short period, there have been major In 2023, Europe faced increased uncertainty, sluggish
alterations in patterns of supply and demand, trade flows, economic performance, and a marked slowdown in the
consumer preferences and working conditions, distribution construction industry.
channels, design, and fashion trends. Companies throughout As a result, European consumer demand for furniture was
the sector are having to evolve new strategies in response under strain, particularly in the lower and mid-price segments.
to a transformed world. Demand was hit by the higher cost of living caused by
Europe’s wood furniture sector has passed through a
period characterised by an initial but very short-lived fall
Bobby Erwin Putra
in demand in the second quarter of 2020 during the first
Covid-19 lockdown, followed by very rapid demand escalation
in 2021 with the onset of the home improvement boom.
This occurred at a time when material shortages and other
logistical challenges greatly reduced availability.
The war in Ukraine and other geopolitical challenges then
drove a rapid escalation in energy prices, adding greatly to
the existing inflationary pressures. Rising interest rates and

declining consumer spending, after demand had been satiated
by high spending in the previous two years, then led to a