ASTANA, Kazakhstan, March 7. Kazakhstan has exported furniture totaling $13.7 million in 2023, which is 31 percent more than in 2022, Trend reports.
According to official data, the main volume of furniture products was sent to the CIS countries.
In total, last year, domestic enterprises produced furniture worth 82.6 billion tenge (about $184 million). This is 28 percent more than in 2022.
The share of furniture production in the total industry for 2023 was 0.18 percent; in the manufacturing industry, it was 0.4 percent. The industry's physical volume index was 143.5 percent.
An increase in production volumes is noted for such goods as kitchen furniture (by 50.4 percent) and wooden office furniture (by 5.4 percent). But a decrease in production occurred in the goods "Special seating furniture" (mainly with a metal frame)—by 46.9 percent, "Wooden furniture for the dining room and living room"—by 2 2.3 percent, and "Wooden furniture for bedrooms" (except beds and wardrobes)—by 0.1 percent.
In addition to this, last year, 5.3 percent less furniture was imported into the country than in 2022. This indicates that Kazakhstanis are increasingly giving preference to domestic products.
The domestic market for the consumption of furniture products at the end of 2023 amounted to $537.4 million, or 245.2 billion tenge. 17.1 billion tenge (about $38 million) were invested in the sector. This is 3.9 more than in 2022.
To note, furniture in Kazakhstan is produced by 1,515 enterprises, of which 1,507 are small. Last year, the industry employed about 14,500 people.