While still relatively strong, the office furniture market is showing signs of slowing, not unexpected considering the current economic situation, and the effects of tariffs, according to the latest MADA/OFI Trends Survey from Michael A. Dunlap & Associates.
North America continues to be a top market for office furniture, with sales estimated at $16.53 billion in 2018, the most recent figures published by BIFMA/IHS Markit.
The ability to sustainably manufacture desks, seating and other products, plus react quickly to changing workplace trends, gives North American producers a competitive advantage over imported products. As seen at NeoCon, industry trends include: incorporating the outdoors into the workplace; privacy on-demand within open-plan workspaces; adaptive furnishings that can be reconfigured for collaborative or private work requirements; height-adjustable desks, innovative surface materials, and products for acoustic comfort.
Globally, the office furniture market is forecast to reach $84.4 billion by the end of 2023, based on a projected CAGR of 6.4 %, according to KD Market Research. From a geographic standpoint, the Asia Pacific market, excluding Japan, is projected to see the highest growth.
Topics impacting the industry continue to be: tariffs, sustainability in the workplace, and government regulations on issues including formaldehyde, with Canada and Mexico also developing national standards.
Statista projects revenue in the U.S. office furniture segment at $15.429 billion for 2019, with 0.02% CAGR to 2023. Revenue for Canada’s office furniture segment is projected at $2.408 billion, with 1.9% CAGR, and at $1.705 billion and 6.1% CAGR (2019-2023) for Mexico. (USD)
Shipments of commercial furniture fell in the third quarter, according to Michael A. Dunlap & Associates’ October 2019 Quarterly MADA / OFI Trends Survey. The index for gross shipments fell to 58.33. The third quarter overall index was at 53.14, down 5.76 points from Q2.
Launching in 2020, BIFMA Compliant is a branded conformance voluntary program which will create a documented rule set for conformance and provide a registry to allow for ease in identifying products that comply with specific BIFMA standards.
According to research published by Fact.MR, the global office furniture market is projected to grow at 5.8% CAGR through 2022, surpassing $30.5 billion by the year’s end. Office chairs are expected as the top-selling product, surpassing $8.8 billion by end of 2022.
Market Data Sources: Business & Institutional Furniture Manufacturers Assn. (BIFMA), IHS Markit, Michael A. Dunlap & Associates LLC, Statistics Canada (StatCan), U.S. Census Bureau, Foreign Trade Division, Research and Markets, KD Market Research, Statista, Fact.MR