DESIGN ITALY EDITORIAL by Ranieri - Made in Italy, even more than sustainability, is the anti covid driver force for the wood industry

Made in Italy, even more than sustainability, is the anti covid driver force for the wood industry.

When the only places where one could come across the coronavirus were still virology textbooks, Italian wood went strong. The estimates speak for themselves: the wood-furniture industry, with a 10 billion Euros surplus, made Italy the second country in Europe in terms of export, with a volume that equals about 30% of total EU's export. Furthermore, Chain of Custody certificates, a key indicator for the industry health, showed a significant increase:  +12.5% YoY (2019/2018 ). This tool is used to verify and certify the origin of the wood.

The pandemic crisis that has led to a general contraction in many sectors has not reset the Italian numbers. At the end of 2020, Italy ranked fourth in the world in wood-furniture-lighting production, together with Germany – one step behind China, the USA and India. Italy is also the third country for the furniture-lighting segment (with a market share of 6.2%) behind Beijing and Berlin. The crisis, however, has had an impact in terms of turnover: the global turnover expected for 2021 (about 430 billion Euros down 10% YoY) would return to the 2015/2016 figures.  Italy is undoubtedly suffering; Nonetheless, the expected recovery forecasts a +5% to be reached at the end of 2021.

The most significant changes will revolve around the industry's growth drivers.  The green economy and the circular economy will play a crucial role in this sense. However, such drivers are intrinsically linked to the renowned Italian esthetic tradition known as "Made in Italy", which is the same magic formula that made the wood industry so strong in Italy.

Ranieri