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The Singapore furniture industry has enjoyed another year of robust expansion. Total furniture trade reached S$3.4 billion, with exports by Singapore-owned factories amounting to S$2.4 billion and imports accounting for S$963 million. According to the statistics provided by SPRING Singapore, the furniture output by Singapore-owned factories has been growing by about 15% per annum – that is more than double the world market growth rate.
The bulk of our industry players can be divided into three main groups – manufacturing, retail/wholesale and contract work. Currently, the industry comprises 2,024 companies employing 14,606 people.
The Singapore furniture sector has evolved significantly from its humble beginnings in the 1960s when it was made up of mostly small family-run businesses. Today, the Singapore furniture industry is a global player with operations in more than 16 countries worldwide. While most of the furniture manufacturers have shifted their labour-intensive manufacturing operations to neighbouring countries like Malaysia, Indonesia, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam and China, they often retain their corporate headquarters in Singapore. |
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Note:
The export figures do not fully reflect the industry performance as they only represent the value of goods shipped directly from manufacturing plants located in Singapore.
With the regionalisation of manufacturing operations, furniture manufactured by Singapore companies is increasingly being shipped directly to customers from overseas production centres. These figures are not included in official statistics.
Based on the 2007 SPRING Singapore SFIC furniture survey, the combined export value from both local and overseas operations of Singapore furniture companies is estimated to be S$ 2.4 billion. |
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