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Decline in wooden furniture imports into 2026 as they may be more indicative of efforts to build
The value of China’s wooden furniture imports in 2025 fell stocks in advance of EUDR enforcement, which was due to
seven percent to US$609 million year-on-year. start on 30 December 2025 only for the EU to agree another
Italy, Germany and Vietnam were the top three suppliers. 12-month delay on 18 December.
67 percent of China’s wooden furniture were imported There was a significant surge in imports in the weeks
from those three countries, but imports fell seven percent, immediately before that announcement, much of it focused

19 percent and 23 percent respectively in 2025. This is the on plywood and wood furniture from Vietnam.
main reason for the decrease in the overall value of China’s The EU’s decision to impose anti-dumping duties on
wooden furniture imports in 2025. hardwood plywood from China in the second half of last year
The main reason for the large decline in China's furniture was another factor driving increased imports of plywood from
imports is that domestic demand for furniture has fallen sharply tropical countries, again most notably from Vietnam, in the
due to the downturn in China's real estate market. second half of 2025.
Nominal unit prices (not adjusted for inflation) for tropical
EU wood and wood furniture imported into the EU decreased
EU tropical wood procuct imports increased in 2025 but from US$2116 per tonne in 2024 to US$2026 in 2025.

remained at historically low levels As such they now sit in the middle of the range between the
The EU imported 1,608,800 tonnes of tropical wood and wood peak of the post-COVID boom in 2022 and the bust in 2023.
furniture in 2025, 10 percent more than in 2024. Average unit prices of tropical wood product imports into
Import value was up seven percent to US$3.32 billion the EU are now much higher than before the COVID pandemic
in 2025. when they never exceeded US$1800 per tonne.
Although a positive trend, the reality is that the gains last This was partly owing to inflation and partly to a structural
year only just raised EU import quantity above the all-time shift in the tropical wood product groups imported into the

low recorded in 2024, while the seven percent increase in the EU with a higher proportion now comprising higher value
nominal dollar value of imports is less impressive when set finished furniture and joinery products rather than sawnwood,
against EU annual inflation of 2.4 percent in 2025 and 2.7 mouldings and logs.
percent the previous year. The increase in EU imports of higher value tropical composite
Taking account of inflation, the real value of imports last wood products has been one of the few bright spots for the
year was significantly less than during the static trading years tropical wood industry in the EU market in recent years.
between 2012 and 2019. It remains to be seen if this shift will be maintained when
It is also very uncertain whether the gains will be sustained EUDR is eventually implemented, now scheduled for 30
December 2026.

The geolocation requirements of EUDR are particularly
Philipp Dimitri challenging for more complex products such as furniture for

which wood is necessarily aggregated from a wide variety of
different sources, including secondary processed waste streams.
Many wood furniture manufacturing companies in Southeast
Asia are SMEs and often dependent on wood supplies from
smallholders, complicating supply chains even further.