SEOUL, Jan. 12 (Korea Bizwire) — Furniture sales last year exceeded 10 trillion won (US$9 billion) as a result of the coronavirus pandemic forcing people to spend more time indoors and a growing interest in interior design.
Statistics Korea and furniture makers reported retail sales of 9.24 trillion won between January and November of last year, up 23.6 percent compared the record from the previous year, and higher than total furniture sales in all of 2019 by 12.4 percent (8.2 trillion won).
Last year’s total sales of furniture are estimated to have exceeded 10 trillion won considering that average monthly sales between January and November stood at 840 billion won, spiking to a whopping 900 billion won in October and November.
The rate of sales increase easily beat the records from 2016 (4.3 percent), 2017 (0.2 percent), 2018 (5.7 percent), and 2019 (9 percent).
“Families are replacing furniture with better, comfortable items as many of them have been staying indoors since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic,” said an industry watcher. “Sales of sofas and tables have soared in particular.”
Image Credit: Hyundai Livart Furniture Co. / Yonhap / photonews@koreabizwire.com
