Acimall: the 2025 preliminary figures

In 2025, the market for machinery and technologies for the processing of wood and wood-based products reached a production value of €2,168 million, down 10.4 percent compared to 2024.
Sales on the domestic market amounted to €710 million (down 2 percent year on year); exports declined (€1,458 million, down 13.9 percent), while imports increased (€240 million, up 5.3 percent). Apparent consumption stood at €950 million, essentially stable (down 0.3 percent) compared to €953 million in 2024, while the trade balance fell to €1.218 billion, a contraction of 16.9 percent over the previous twelve months.

These figures emerge from analyses carried out by the Studies Office of Acimall, the Confindustria association representing Italian manufacturers of machinery, equipment and tools for wood processing and the furniture industry.
These preliminary figures should be read in the context of a timeframe influenced by the effects of the pandemic period: while 2020, the “Covid year”, stood at €1,848 million, with a sharp contraction of 18.4 percent compared to 2019, the following years recorded a powerful rebound: €2,530 million in 2021 (up 37 percent), €2,646 million in 2022 and €2,650 million in 2023, an all-time record for the sector. A boom in orders that effectively fuelled the reference industry for three years, generating an unprecedented level of investment and undoubtedly leading to a profound and widespread renewal of the machinery fleet.

It was therefore inevitable that the following years would be marked by a “return to normality”: 2024 closed with production equal to €2,420 million (8.7 percent less than the 2023 record), and 2025, as we have seen, essentially confirmed the trend.
“The exceptional wave of investments in recent years could only lead to a reversal of the trend in the current period,” commented Acimall Director Dario Corbetta. “Unfortunately, other negative factors for our industry have been added to this contraction, which I would define as physiological, first and foremost the ‘disappearance’ of certain markets (Russia, Belarus and, in part, Ukraine) for reasons we all sadly know. Over this period, moreover, Chinese production has effectively consolidated its presence in the Asian continent and has entered South America, where Italian and European supply nevertheless continues to hold its ground. Our industry continues to meet with approval in North America, as well as in the Old Continent, and always looks with great interest to Africa, which remains the great bet for the future.”

“Within this framework, the Italian market continues to represent a key destination, expressing a value of around one billion euros, placing it among the most important contexts in global flows of wood technologies,” Corbetta added. “From our ongoing contacts with companies in the sector, positive signals are emerging, confirmed by the limited contraction in benchmark values compared to the overall figure (from €725 million in 2024 to €710 million in 2025, ed.). Signals that can only be confirmed in 2026, in light of the new incentives reserved for ‘made in Italy’ and ‘made in Europe’ machinery introduced by the Italian government.
A boost – concluded Acimall Director Dario Corbetta – that will certainly materialize at Xylexpo, the sector’s technology trade fair to be held from 9 to 12 June, which will once again prove to be a valuable showcase for Italian and international technology offerings.”