December furniture production rate falls; full year up

The rate of furniture production during December registered a decline while the value in domestic goods also decreased both on last year and the previous month.

According to the latest Office for National Statistics (ONS) data, the rate of furniture production fell 5.5% compared to November, while down 7.5% on December last year. As for the full year, the rate of furniture production increased 3.6% against 2021.

Overall, monthly production output grew by 0.3% in December 2022, following growth of 0.1% (revised up from a 0.2% fall) in November 2022. The main contributor to this growth was electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply.

Meanwhile, the value of the manufacture of furniture for December resulted at £653.8m, down 33% from £977.5m in November. Against the same period last year, the value fell 3.2% from £676.1m.

As for the value of furniture manufacturer exports, this decreased 46% to £48.3m for the month from £89.9m. Against last year, exports value fell 26% from £65.7m. The value of domestic furniture manufacture decreased 31% to £605.5m from £887.6m in the month, while declining 0.8% from £610.4m last year.

On a full year total, the value of the manufacture of furniture for 2022 resulted at £10.7bn, up 18.8% from £9bn in 2021. Exports value rose 41% from £709.9m to £1bn, while domestic goods increased 15% to £9.6bn from £8.3bn.

Total gross domestic product (GDP) is estimated to have fallen by 0.5% in December 2022 following unrevised growth of 0.1% in November 2022.

Commenting on the GDP figures, ONS Director of Economic Statistics Darren Morgan said: “The economy contracted sharply in December meaning, overall, there was no growth in the economy over the last three months of 2022.

“In December public services were hit by fewer operations and GP visits, partly due to the impact of strikes, as well as notably lower school attendance. Meanwhile, the break in Premier League football for the World Cup and postal strikes also caused a slowdown.

“However, these falls were partially offset by a strong month for lawyers, growth in car sales and the cold snap increasing energy generation.

“Across 2022 as a whole, the economy grew four percent. Despite recent squeezes in household incomes, restaurants, bars and travel agents had a strong year. Meanwhile, health and education also began to recover from the effects of the pandemic.”

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