The volume of furniture exports for 2022 amounted to $806.6 million, which is $56.2 more than the volume of exports in 2020, and yet $244.5 less than Ukraine exported furniture in 2021 (according to the State Customs Service of Ukraine).

Despite IKEA’s refusal to cooperate with Ukrainian furniture manufacturers, the average annual growth rate of exports over the past 6 years is 11.5%.

The TOP-10 countries that buy the most Ukrainian furniture are the following, indicating the share of the total amount of exports by a group of goods 94:

• Poland 34.91%
• Germany 17.37%
• Denmark 5.89%
• Austria 4.50%
• Belgium 4.04%
• Romania 3.23%
• Great Britain 2.59%
• France 2.40%
• Republic of Moldova 2.12%
• Netherlands 1.83%

In total, in 2022, Ukrainian furniture manufacturers exported to 99 countries.

 

 

“Yes, this is less than in peacetime, when we worked for 120 countries, but it is also evidence that the world needs Ukrainian furniture and is ready to support the economy of our country by buying FURNITURE OF UKRAINE”: – says Oksana Donska, member of the Board of UAFM, director of the exhibition “Furniture of Ukraine Business Expo”.

Of course, the Russian Federation has practically disappeared from the radars of national producers, where in 2021 we exported $21.3 million (2.02% of total exports), and this year we sent them $3.3 million, and that – during January-February 2022 Also, $17.1 million in furniture exports to Belarus in 2021 turned into $1.4 million this year. Logistics through the territory of the aggressor country reduced the shipment of furniture to Kazakhstan from $14.2 to $8.4 million.

The climate in trade relations with the countries of the Middle East has changed significantly, where export volumes have decreased by 20-40% in various countries.

According to research* of the Innovation Development Center of the Office for Entrepreneurship and Export Development, as of September 2022, 80% of furniture makers will continue to work without business relocation, and 13.3% have relocated, in particular with the active support of grants from the state and USAID. And zero percent of furniture factories relocated abroad.

18.8% of those interviewed by the Center work exclusively for the domestic market, 50% have set the goal of exporting, and the rest have exported before.

“What is wonderful, the mood of the industry in Ukraine coincides with the desire for business abroad. Communicating on an ongoing basis with professional players in the global furniture market, we receive new and new requests. There are product areas where factories in Ukraine are overloaded with orders from abroad and do not accept new customers. The absolute top sellers are chairs and tables. There are examples of successful cases when furniture makers work in the furniture segments to order, and all this is 100% for export. There are certainly questions about performance guarantees from customers, and here the answers lie in the reputation of the owner and the factory, opportunities to cooperate through the Credit and Export Agency of Ukraine, in the mobility of businesses that open subsidiaries abroad and sign agreements on behalf of companies in the EU, the USA, or other countries. Among the arguments why the stable work of furniture production should not proceed, we can also name shelling and the mobilization of employees, and power outages, and official statistics confirm that Ukrainian business is not to kick”: – adds Ms Oksana Donska.

806 million dollars The USA is 274,599 tons of furniture – products with high added value, manufactured in Ukraine, despite the war.

That’s why we don’t stop! We are going to Poznań with a national stand in February to meet with thousands of furniture buyers (participation in the Online stand of the Ukrainian Association of Furniture Manufacturers at the Meble Polska international exhibition is also available), in April – to London, in June – to Cologne, in September – to Bad Salzeflen. Ask us how to join the circle of furniture exporters of Ukraine!

*The research was conducted by: the Center for Innovations Development, the Entrepreneurship and Export Promotion Office, and the Diia.Business national project together with Advanter Group.