Overall UK imports of wood furniture (HS 94) from tropical countries in 2020 were USD562 million, 22% less than in 2019. This was the lowest level since 2013 and followed four years of consistent growth .

UK imports from tropical countries fell much more than imports from other countries in 2020. Total UK imports of wood furniture fell 8% to USD 3.52 billion in 2020, with imports from China down 7% to USD1.32 billion, down 5% from the EU to USD1.12 billion, and up 6% from other non-tropical countries to USD458 million.

UK imports of wood furniture declined sharply from all the leading tropical supply countries in 2020 .

Imports from Vietnam were down 29% to USD267 million, imports from Malaysia fell 21% to USD123 million, imports from Indonesia declined 24% to USD51 million, imports from India fell 19% to USD44 million and imports from Thailand were down 21% to USD18 million. In contrast, there was a 59% rise in imports from Singapore to USD46 million.

The rise from Singapore is mainly due to logistics as large container carriers left off the coast of Singapore during the most stringent coronavirus measures in the second quarter of 2020 re-entered the shipping market to help ship containers to Europe.

Container space from other South Eastern countries was very limited and was likely an important factor explaining loss of share in the UK and wider European market for wood furniture in 2020.