In 2025, despite sharply rising tariff barriers and heightened policy uncertainty, the global economy remains resilient, with world GDP posting a growth rate of 2.7%. Inflation is gradually easing, and investment activity is picking up. China, anchored in a high-quality development strategy, continues to implement policies centered on boosting consumption, stabilizing investment, and strengthening industries, thereby solidifying the foundations for livelihood‑related sectors and expanding their room for adjustment. As a key industry closely linked to household consumption and international trade, the furniture sector exhibits dynamic yet pressure‑bearing growth, driven by national macroeconomic policies. Looking at core industry indicators, affected by profound shifts in the international trade environment and other factors, year‑on‑year growth rates in corporate revenue, total profits, exports, and imports have all declined. However, thanks to the effective implementation of multiple favorable domestic policies, the consumer side of the industry has demonstrated strong vitality: retail sales of furniture products at enterprises above the designated size have expanded rapidly, significantly outpacing the overall growth rate of total retail sales of consumer goods. Meanwhile, the pace of structural optimization within the industry continues to accelerate, with regional concentration of production further increasing. Provinces such as Zhejiang, Guangdong, and Fujian have steadily reinforced their positions as leading industrial hubs. Industry players are proactively adapting to changing market demands and speeding up the upgrading of their industrial structure, underscoring both the sector’s resilience and its endogenous momentum.

I. Production

Changes in the Number of Large-Scale Furniture Enterprises and Their Revenue Performance

From January to December 2025, the number of large-scale furniture enterprises in China—defined as those with annual main business revenue of RMB 20 million or more (hereinafter referred to as “large-scale enterprises”)—stood at 7,467, unchanged from November. Throughout the year, the total number of such enterprises remained consistently above 7,400, indicating stable enterprise size and no significant contraction or expansion driven by operational pressures. During the same period, these large-scale enterprises collectively generated cumulative operating revenue of RMB 612.51 billion, down 10.7% year on year, continuing the year‑long downward trend; the decline widened by 1.6 percentage points compared with the January–November period. On an annual basis, revenue growth remained negative, with the rate of decline expanding month by month after a slight narrowing in March. The industry is confronting a tightening market environment, resulting in markedly insufficient momentum for revenue growth.

Furniture production output

In 2025, affected by factors such as adjustments in the real estate market, demand in the furniture sector continued to contract, placing significant pressure on the industry’s production side. From January to December 2025, cumulative furniture output declined 4.0% year over year, while December’s monthly output fell 6.0% compared with the same month of the previous year. Overall, the industry’s production exhibited a pattern of high‑in‑the‑first‑half, low‑in‑the‑second‑half, with downward volatility. Looking at the monthly trend, February and March were the only months in the year to register positive growth, with monthly output up 5.3% and 3.7%, respectively, and cumulative output rising 5.3% and 3.0% year over year. Starting in April, year‑on‑year growth turned negative for the first time; although the decline narrowed somewhat in June and July, the negative trend intensified after August, with monthly year‑on‑year declines steadily widening. By November, the drop reached a year‑low of 11.2%, and in December, monthly output fell 6.0% year over year. Cumulative output followed the monthly trajectory, fluctuating in tandem: it briefly rebounded to 1.9% in July, but from September onward, growth turned negative again and continued to weaken, leaving full‑year cumulative output in negative territory.

Looking at the cumulative production rankings by region, Zhejiang ranks first nationwide, emerging as the industry’s core production hub, with its output advantage remaining robust across all phases of the year. Guangdong, Fujian, Jiangsu, Hebei, Shandong, and Jiangxi follow closely behind. Sichuan, Shanghai, and Henan exhibit relatively similar output levels, collectively placing them in the upper-middle tier nationally. From a broader regional perspective, China’s furniture manufacturing remains concentrated along the eastern coastal areas and in select central and southwestern provinces, with pronounced disparities in regional production capacity. The leading provinces continue to demonstrate distinct advantages in industrial scale and agglomeration effects.

In terms of production growth, provincial performance varies significantly: Shanxi leads with a 25.03% increase, while Hunan, Shanghai, Anhui, Beijing, Henan, Jiangxi, Jiangsu, and Fujian all posted positive growth rates; the remaining provinces experienced declines. Geographically, the eastern region exhibits a dual strength in both scale and resilience: Shanghai, Fujian, and Jiangsu maintained positive growth, and although Zhejiang and Guangdong saw contractions, their declines were moderate, largely owing to industrial cluster development and export diversification. By contrast, the southwest and northwest regions collectively recorded sharp downturns, attributable to inadequate industrial support systems and overly concentrated market strategies. In the north and northeast, divergence is pronounced: Beijing sustained positive growth, while Tianjin, Liaoning, Jilin, and Heilongjiang all registered declines.

Comparing the production trends of the furniture industry over the past two years, 2025 saw only a brief uptick in early-year output, from February to March, with both month‑over‑month and year‑to‑date growth rates turning positive. Thereafter, production momentum weakened steadily, failing to sustain the initial growth trajectory. By contrast, in 2024 the furniture sector maintained a robust, steady‑but‑progressive performance throughout the year, posting positive year‑on‑year growth on both a monthly and cumulative basis, with growth rates remaining above 2% and overall production activity staying at a relatively high level.

From a category perspective, during January–December 2025, the output of the three major furniture segments—wooden, metal, and upholstered—all recorded year-on-year declines. Among them, cumulative production of wooden furniture fell 7.9% compared with the same period last year, with the monthly decline in December widening to 12.1%. Wooden furniture posted the largest year-to-date drop, experiencing consecutive month‑on‑month negative growth since mid‑year, and the decline deepened further by year’s end, reflecting a pronounced contraction in production. Cumulative output of metal furniture decreased 4.7% year over year, with a 6.5% month‑on‑month drop in December, a relatively modest decline that underscores a generally stable performance. Upholstered furniture saw a 4.3% year‑on‑year decline in cumulative production, the smallest drop among the three categories; however, its December output plunged 13.1% year over year, signaling intensifying downward pressure toward year‑end.

II. Benefits

From January to December 2025, large-scale enterprises in China’s furniture industry reported total profits of RMB 32.81 billion, down 12.1% year on year. Although still in negative growth territory, the decline narrowed significantly by 10.6 percentage points compared with the January–November period, easing profit pressures. Over the course of the year, the year-on-year drop in total profits continued to narrow, reaching its lowest point in March at a 40.1% year-on-year decline, before narrowing by 28 percentage points by December relative to March.

From January to December 2025, the operating income profit margin of China’s furniture industry enterprises above designated size improved. The full-year operating income profit margin reached 5.4%, up 1.0 percentage point from January–November. On a monthly basis, the profit margin began at a low of 3.7% in February and gradually rebounded, stabilizing above 4% starting in July. By December, it further climbed to 5.4%, reflecting a steady enhancement in the industry’s profitability.

III. Domestic Sales

In December 2025, retail sales of furniture products by enterprises above the designated size in China totaled RMB 20.73 billion, second only to the June figure. However, growth has been negative for two consecutive months since November, with a year-on-year decline of 2.2% in December—though the decline narrowed by 1.6 percentage points compared with November, indicating a slight easing of the downward trend. Nevertheless, the month‑on‑month year‑over‑year contraction remains unchanged. On an annual cumulative basis, from January to December, total retail sales of furniture by enterprises above the designated size reached RMB 209.19 billion, up 14.6% year on year. This growth rate was 2.3 percentage points lower than the January–November period but still outpaced the overall retail sales growth of consumer goods by 10.9 percentage points.

In 2025, driven by favorable consumer policies such as government subsidies and trade-in programs, the cumulative retail sales of furniture at enterprises above the designated size increased by 14.6% year on year—far outpacing the 2.8% growth in 2023 and the 3.6% growth in 2024—and reached a three-year high.

Looking at the monthly growth trend, in the first half of 2025, month‑over‑month growth remained robust, consistently above 20%, whereas during the same period in 2023 it was confined to the single‑digit range of 3%–5%, and in 2024 it likewise stayed at a modest 1%–5%. Thus, the magnitude and stability of growth in 2025 markedly outpaced those of the preceding two years. However, after entering November 2025, growth turned negative and posted two consecutive months of decline, starkly contrasting with the strong expansion seen in the first half of the year and falling short of the positive growth rates recorded in the corresponding periods of 2023 and 2024.

IV. Exports

In 2025, affected by international trade tensions and additional U.S. tariffs, China’s furniture industry faced overall export pressure, with year‑long export figures exhibiting significant volatility and a negative growth trend. In December 2025, the sector’s exports totaled US$6.84 billion, down 8.3% year over year but up 18.5% month over month, marking a two‑month consecutive rebound in export volume. For the full year, cumulative exports reached US$67.81 billion, a 5.9% decline compared with the same period last year; the year‑on‑year contraction widened by 0.3 percentage points from January–November. Among the months, positive year‑on‑year growth was recorded only in March, June, July, and September, while all other months posted year‑on‑year declines, with February seeing the sharpest drop at –29.1%. In the fourth quarter, year‑on‑year export growth remained negative across the board, with October registering the largest decline at –12.2%.

V. Imports

In December 2025, China’s furniture industry imported US$150 million, down 0.5% year on year, with the decline narrowing by 8.8 percentage points compared to November. From January to December, cumulative imports totaled US$1.53 billion, a 5.4% year-on-year decrease, with the decline easing by 0.5 percentage point versus the January–November period. On a monthly basis, February saw the largest year-on-year increase since 2025, at 24.4%; April recorded the sharpest year-on-year drop, at 26.4%. Meanwhile, imports posted positive growth in May, July, September, and October, with July’s import value reaching US$140 million—the highest monthly figure for the entire year of 2025.

VI. Investment

From January to December 2025, the cumulative fixed‑asset investment in China’s furniture manufacturing sector increased by 1.5% year on year, with the growth rate narrowing by 3.3 percentage points compared to the January–November period. Although fixed‑asset investment in the industry has remained positive for 12 consecutive months, the overall pace of expansion has shown a marked deceleration. In terms of investment income, the year‑to‑date growth rate hit a full‑year low of –94.6% in February, but subsequently rebounded gradually. From January to December, cumulative investment income totaled RMB 11.09 billion, up sharply by 24.0% year on year—a 45.4‑percentage‑point acceleration from the January–November pace. This significant improvement was driven by December, when investment income reached a new annual high of RMB 6.34 billion, accounting for 57.2% of the year’s total.

Looking at the development trend over the past three years, 2023 was characterized by a period of deep adjustment, with investment continuing to contract year-on-year. In 2024, investment momentum rebounded markedly: after posting 6.9% growth in March, the year‑end growth rate stabilized at 9.0%. In 2025, investment growth accelerated further, following a volatile yet upward trajectory throughout the year; it peaked at 17.7% in July, and although it subsequently eased somewhat, it remained firmly in positive territory.

In terms of investment returns, 2023 followed a pattern of high‑then‑low: growth was at a temporary peak in the first half before steadily declining, leaving industry profitability under sustained pressure throughout the second half. In 2024, the sector demonstrated strong resilience, maintaining robust growth in the first half; after a brief dip into negative territory in June, it rebounded rapidly, with growth climbing to 32.3% by December. In February 2025, growth plunged sharply to 94.6%, but the pace of decline gradually eased, and by December, growth had surged to 24.0%, bringing the year to a close with a shift from deep negative territory into positive growth.

Data sources: National Bureau of Statistics, General Administration of Customs

Source: China Furniture Association

Note 1. China’s furniture industry encompasses nine major product categories: wooden furniture, metal furniture, plastic furniture, furniture made from bamboo, rattan, willow, and similar materials, furniture made from other materials and furniture components, seating and its parts, dental and barber chairs and their components, medical furniture, and spring mattresses.