FRANKFURT, Germany — More than 137,000 buyers from 143 countries attended the 2016 edition of Ambiente, an international home furnishings trade fair held each year at the Frankfurt Fair and Exhibition Centre.

The number of buyers at the show increased from 134,600 in 2015, and the number of visitors from outside of Germany accounted for 55% of the total, a number that Ambiente officials said points to positive economic signs.

“The whole world does business here at Ambiente,” said Detlaf Braun, a member of the board of management of MesseFrankfurt GmbH. “An impressive demonstration of this is to be seen in the good propensity to order, and the high standard of German and international buyers. The economic signs are set to go.”

Braun added that the number of buyers expanded not only in quantity, but also in the potential for substantial business opportunities.

“The number of international visitors has risen yet again,” Braun said. “In particular, we welcomed delegations, many of them including senior managers, from major trading houses. Also encouraging is the large number of buyers from the U.S., despite the warning about travelling to Europe. Overall, the mood was good and visitors were willing to buy — committed and dedicated.”

In addition to 16 fully-occupied exhibition halls with furniture, accessories, housewares and gift products, highlights at Ambiente 2016 included Talents, a showcase of young designers; the Design Plus exhibit; and Ambiente Trends, four cross-category vignettes designed by trends consultants around the themes of Artisanal Gardening, Futuristic Couture, Functional Simplicity and Composing Freedom.

“The search for new forms of expression in design leads, on one hand, to painstaking, serious and profound attempts to grapple with the issues, and on the other hand, gives people the courage to experiment with forms and materials,” said Annetta Palmisano, a representative of the trend bureau that curated the trends collections.

A total of 178 companies from 33 countries entered 418 products for the Design Plus Award competition. An international jury selected 27 products and product series from nine countries for recognition at Ambiente, and award-winning companies included: Alessi, Bosign, Eagle Products Textil, Ebnat, Emform, Eschenbach Porzellan Group, Fratelli Guzzini, Hofats, Iwasaki Industry, JuliFoli, Kiboni, Koziol, LSA International, Metallurgica Italo Ottinetti, Mono, Nude, Palomar, Peppermint Products, Philippi, Riedel Glas, Robert Herder, The Décor Corp. and Villeroy & Boch.

“We are proud that this renowned and independently judged design award for extremely well-designed consumer goods has been running for over three decades,” said Nicolette Naumann, vice president of Ambiente/Tendence. “As in the past, we are delighted with the innovative and aesthetically pleasing products of this year’s winners.”

Visitors from outside Germany accounted for 55% of the total compared to 53% in 2015. The top ten visitor nations, after Germany, were Italy, France, Spain, the Netherlands, United Kingdom, China, United States, Switzerland, Turkey and South Korea.

The number of visitors from Germany remained stable while above-average increases were noted from Japan, South Korea, South America, Africa, the Middle East and countries bordering the Mediterranean.

“Ambiente brings together the key manufacturers and brands,” said Stephan Koziol, chairman of the European Lifestyle Assn. “Moreover, the short distances at the fair and the perfect links to the airport represent a genuine locational advantage. The customers are optimistic about the future, and the propensity to order is correspondingly high.”

The Ambiente Partner Country for 2017 will be the United Kingdom with a corresponding spotlight on British design. Ambiente 2017 will be Feb.10-14.