Industry Overview: The Turkish Furniture Market Exports in 2020

Furniture business has achieved export figures of 5.6 billion dollars in 2020. It is worth reminding that this figure is a more general data including not only furniture but also three related sectors as “Furniture, Paper and Forestry Products”. However, from the statements of the furniture sector representatives, we understand that approximately $ 4 billion of this total export figure belongs directly to the furniture industry. According to the Ministry of Commerce 2020 Furniture Sector Report, this figure was 3 billion 415 million dollars for 2019. Despite the Covid-19 restrictions and the contraction in global trade, the sector closed the year with an increase compared to the previous year and achieved great success in this context.  For 2021, it is aimed to increase the export figure by 1 billion dollars.

When we examine the details of our sectoral export data, it is seen that we mostly sell to Iraq, Israel, Germany, USA, UK and Saudi Arabia. The cities with the highest sales are respectively Istanbul, Bursa, Izmir, Kayseri, Gaziantep, Ankara, Antalya, Kocaeli, Adana and Mersin. Referring to the added value created by the furniture sector, we see that Turkey realized as 1.51 dollars per kilogram average export unit in general. If we interpret our situation without ignoring the fact that this value is over 3 dollars per kilogram in priority markets such as Europe and the USA, we can clearly state that as a country, we need strong, unique and innovative designs for high value-added products. Exporting our products by increasing the added value of our products with design, R&D, branding and innovation as the goal; In other words, if the export figures cannot be increased to the desired level due to the difficulties of the period, it may be aimed to increase the income from exports per unit by increasing the quality of the product and the added value.

According to the 2020 report of the Center for Industrial Studies (CSIL), Turkey is listed as the eight country in the global furniture exports. The goal is to be among the top 5 countries in furniture exports in the world and we have the potential to achieve this. In this context, it is obvious that we need design and logistics centers in order to get a larger share from the US market, which is the world's largest furniture importer with $ 40 billion. Especially in order to achieve success in the field of e-commerce, the existence of logistics centers becomes more important when we consider that many of well-known online marketplaces in developed countries request or even require storage and direct distribution services from their suppliers.

Digital transformation is inevitable in business world of today including all related sectors. It is vital for all companies to improve their technical infrastructures and increase the digital awareness among their staff in this regard.  International fairs, showroom visits, and customer meetings are going to be executed more and more in virtual environments. In this respect, initiatives like Furniture Academy are valuable, and it should be ensured that similar initiatives are developed and all companies benefit from the relevant services and trainings with the help of the unions in the sector.