Switzerland, the Netherlands and Italy above average

The bathroom furniture market in Europe has defied the problems caused by Covid-19, war, high inflation and material shortages over the past three years. This is a key point of the new study "Bathroom furniture, mirror cabinets and illuminated mirrors in Europe - Top 10 countries compared from 2015 to 2030" by the Rhineland-based management consultancy Titze. However, the market is being driven less by the slump in new construction and more by the modernisation and renovation of bathrooms.

In 2023, the data from the first nine months separates the wheat from the chaff. Three countries achieved rising sales, one country remained unchanged and six countries were suffering from declining domestic market supply: "Switzerland, the Netherlands and Italy are performing above average," reported management consultant Winfried Titze. In Belgium, sales remained stable, while in the other six nations - Germany, Austria, the UK, France, Spain and Poland - they tended to decline.

According to Titze, the mood in Germany is worse than it needs to be: "I view the trend more positively than many others. There is a huge backlog in renovation and modernisation."

Due to the crises from 2020 to 2022, the bathroom furniture market developed differently in the ten countries, but the trade benefited from strong demand. "The growing contract market for bathroom furniture is also booming worldwide and end customers are benefiting from the complete price transparency of products thanks to the continuous growth in online trade." In 2022, bathroom furniture, mirror cabinets and illuminated mirrors worth €2.667 billion were sold here at ex-factory prices.