European Furniture Market Update – August 2026

Furnilytics Market Briefs provide a monthly overview of the European furniture market, combining the latest furniture retail, furniture manufacturing and online demand indicators into a single market update. Based on data from Eurostat, national statistical offices and continuously updated Furnilytics datasets, each edition reviews harmonised 3-month year-on-year developments across Europe and selected international markets. The briefs help manufacturers, suppliers, retailers and investors monitor furniture market trends, demand conditions, production activity and overall market momentum.

Executive summary

The latest indicators suggest that the European furniture market remained broadly stable through May 2026, although momentum weakened compared with the previous month. Retail demand continued to record modest year-on-year growth (+0.9%), while manufacturing output deteriorated further (-3.3%), highlighting that the recovery remains uneven across the industry. Furniture-related web searches remained well above last year's level (+9.4%), indicating sustained consumer interest despite weaker production activity. Overall, the latest data suggest that demand conditions remain relatively resilient, but the renewed slowdown in manufacturing, particularly in Europe's largest producing countries, will be an important trend to monitor in the months ahead.

Retail

Retail demand remains mixed across the European furniture market. The European retail indicator increased by +0.9% on a three-month year-on-year basis, although the pace of recovery has moderated compared with recent months. Longer-term trends also continue to improve, with the market now +0.8% over the past twelve months, while remaining below levels seen two and three years ago.

Among the major furniture markets, Germany and France continue to lag behind. Germany recorded a decline of -4.1% over the latest three-month period, while France fell by -3.7%, highlighting continued weakness in two of Europe's largest furniture markets. In contrast, Italy remains the strongest of the major markets, with retail turnover increasing by +1.2%. The United States also showed further improvement, as the pace of decline eased to -2.0%.

The broader European picture remains more positive than the performance of the largest markets alone would suggest. Lithuania (+9.3%), Poland (+5.6%), and the Netherlands (+2.2%) continue to outperform the European average, while the United Kingdom has also returned to modest growth. This indicates that retail demand remains relatively resilient across a wider group of European markets, despite ongoing weakness in Germany and France.

Overall, the latest retail indicators suggest that the European furniture market continues to stabilise, although the recovery remains uneven. The renewed deterioration in Germany has become an important point of attention, while stronger performances in several smaller markets continue to provide support for the broader European outlook.

Manufacturing

Manufacturing conditions remain more challenging than retail demand, with the latest indicators pointing to a renewed slowdown across Europe's furniture industry. European furniture production declined by -3.3% on a three-month year-on-year basis, marking a weaker performance than in previous months. Although longer-term trends continue to improve gradually, manufacturing activity remains below last year's level and the recovery has lost momentum.

Among Europe's largest furniture-producing countries, Germany continues to face the weakest conditions, with production down -4.7% over the latest three-month period. Italy and Poland also weakened, recording declines of -5.0% and -4.0%, respectively, indicating that the slowdown has become more widespread among Europe's key manufacturing markets.

The broader European picture remains more balanced than the largest manufacturing markets alone suggest. Lithuania continues to lead with production growth of +6.4%, while France (+4.3%) remains in positive territory and the United States (+2.7%) continues to outperform Europe. These differences highlight that manufacturing conditions remain highly uneven between countries and regions.

Overall, the latest production indicators suggest that the European furniture manufacturing sector remains in a fragile recovery. While several markets continue to expand, the renewed weakness across Germany, Italy and Poland indicates that a broad-based manufacturing recovery has yet to emerge.