Total furniture and floorcoverings imports into the UK fell in December 2016 by 10.2% to a value of £729.8m from £804.6m in November, whilst total export value rose by 0.3% to a value of £260.4m from £259.5m.

Industry Commodity Code data analysed by Cabinet Maker revealed revealed that imports within the EU reduced by 22% to £321.8m from £392.9m against the previous month, with a number of market leaders suffering a decline.

All large markets that import into the UK reported a fall, with imports from Germany, Poland, Italy, Belgium and the Netherlands all down in December compared with November. Of the 28 EU member states recording imports into the UK during the month, only five reported a growth, with Bulgaria the biggest gainer, up by 30% to £6.9m from £5.3m.

German imports fell by 19.6% to £62.8m from £78.2m, Polish figures decreased by 16.7% to £52.3m from £62.8m, and Italian imports were down by 14.4% to £51.7m from £60.4m. Belgian and Dutch imports also fell by 22.8% to £24m from £31.1m and 23.3% to £22.3m from £29.1m respectively.

Outside the EU, it was a similar story, where imports fell by 0.8% to £408m from £411.7m. USA, India and Vietnam all reported a decline in UK exports, down by 12.5% to £23.7m, 13.8% to £12.4m, and 1.5% to £24.8m respectively. However, exports to China rose by 5.1% to £271.5m.

Exports within the EU saw a big drop of 16% to £121m from £144.2m, a second successive monthly fall. Notable markets in Ireland, France and Germany all reported a decline by 7.2% to £32.7m, 20.4% to £21.8m, and 20.7% to £18.7m respectively. Only four markets registered growth with exports to Austria a particular highlight, up by 75% to £2.1m.

Outside the EU, exports returned to growth in December, up by 20.9% to £139.4m, with the USA representing the majority of the market at £59.1m, up on the previous month by 45.9%. British exports to Australia rose 160% to £7.8m, as did exports to China, up by 16% to £9.4m. Malaysia, Thailand, Hong Kong, China and New Zealand all saw export growth from the UK.