The Furniture Cluster in Ankara

In many industrialized countries the furniture sector accounts for about 2–4 per cent of the production value of the manufacturing sector. The EU furniture industry is particularly strong, accounting for about half of the world’s production. Table 4.1 shows the market shares of the top ten exporters of furniture (SITC 821) in 1991–2000. As can be seen, Italy had the highest share with an impressive 17 per cent. Moreover Italy maintained its leading position throughout the period, while the export share of the runner-up, Germany, dropped from 15 per cent to around 9 per cent. The latter figure matched the US share, which remained fairly stable. The share of Canada, on the other hand, increased considerably in the second half of the 1990s and reached a significant 9 per cent. The shares of the two other important furniture producers, France and Denmark, fell slightly, each stabilizing at about 4 per cent. Belgium and Luxemburg also suffered a gradual decline from 4.5 per cent to 3 per cent. A similar market share (3 per cent) was captured by the United Kingdom, whose stake remained relatively stable. Meanwhile China and Poland emerged as new players and gradually increased their shares to 8 per cent and 4 per cent respectively.