In the first five months of this year, the EU-27 imported 710,800 tonnes of tropical timber and wooden furniture products, with a total value of US$1.48b, a decrease of 17% and 27%, respectively, compared to the same period in 2022. The sharp decline this year is largely the result of a strong start to 2022.
Total EU-27 imports of tropical wood and wooden furniture in the first five months of this year closely tracked the long-term average between 2013 and 2019, when trade was subdued but stable. For now, therefore, trade appears to have returned to more normal levels after the volatility during the COVID-19 pandemic.
While imports were quite strong from January to March this year, especially in dollar terms, imports slowed sharply in April before picking up again in May.
The normalization of trade partly reflects broader conditions in the European economy, as growth in the region has returned to the sluggish pace that characterized the decade before the pandemic. However, the underlying factors behind this slow growth are now different.