New decline for the furniture market in 2024, but reasons for hope

"Purchasing power, budgetary decisions, wait-and-see attitude, the French are postponing their furniture purchases while waiting for better times," indicated the sector's players during a press briefing on Tuesday.

The furniture sector totaled 13,8 billion euros in 2024, down 5,1% (in value) compared to 2023, which had also shown a decline after the surge in 2021 and the French buying frenzy following the lockdown.

Inflation has certainly fallen in 2024 but "the price increases of previous years have not been erased and are still weighing on household budgets", specified the National Confederation of Home Equipment (Cnef), French Furniture and the Institute for Prospective and Study of Furniture (Ipea).

However, the drop in activity in new and old real estate "should have had an even greater impact on the market because a third of furniture purchases are linked to moves," they note.

It should be noted that the decline was pronounced for garden furniture (-8,4% due to rainy weather), fitted kitchens and bathrooms (-6,2% and -7,2% due to fewer property purchases). Bedding only fell by 2,1%.

For 2025, representatives of the sector note "the meeting of several preconditions for a recovery in furniture consumption": a decline in inflation which gradually restores household purchasing power, and the reduction in mortgage rates, which can revive housing purchases.

Representatives of the organisations suggested "simple and non-impacting public finances" support measures, including authorisation to release up to 10.000 euros from PEL (savings and housing plans, savings intended for the purchase of a home) for two years to "stimulate consumption".

Another measure: better promote French manufacturers in public and private markets, "drawing inspiration from practices already in place in Germany and Italy", for example by strengthening the evaluation criteria for calls for tender (giving more weight to environmental and social criteria, use of sustainable materials, maintaining know-how and jobs in France, etc.).

They also urge the authorities to react "to the unfair competition from uncontrolled Chinese platforms", via "reinforced control and significant sanctions against online sales sites" which do not respect environmental regulations, violate intellectual property or display illegal commercial practices (dumping for example).