Outdoor Living Is Booming again in 2021 as Producers are Pushed to the Limits

The market for outdoor living solutions is overheating since 2020 and demand is expected to remain at the current level despite uncertainty about overall economic growth. In 2021 textile outdoor rose by 9,7% in Europe Top 7, while bioclimatic pergolas keep getting more and more popular overperforming again with 25,4% quantity growth. At the same time, producers are struggling to keep up with demand and have been forced to rise prices as raw materials are getting more expensive. This trend will continue in 2022, but, in case of a prolonged war in Ukraine, producers will have problems in transferring additional price increases to dealers and consumers.

Higher Demand as the new normal?

In the last 2 years, high levels of demand have been in part caused by households diverting their spending toward home renovation and in particular in making outdoor areas more comfortable. Lockdown measures and travel restrictions forced families to stay more time in their homes during the summer months.  However, other structural factors are helping the industry, as for example higher investments in energy saving solutions and climate change. For Dr. Stefano Armandi, the author of the study, “there are early signs that household spending will remain high also in the medium term and Interconnection is confident that the market for outdoor living as a whole will rather stabilize at current levels, at least in absence of external shocks”.

Italy overperformed thanks to government subsidies

Italian market overperformed in 2021 as the government implemented a large intervention by helping homeowners to renovate their homes and covering more than 10% of the final costs. Similar programmes are planned in other countries in 2022, albeit with different coverage and conditions. The German market recorded a robust increase in textile outdoor, while bioclimatic pergolas are still not growing as in other market, like Italy and Benelux.    

ZIP-screens are on the rise

In 2021, all product categories in outdoor living recorded a growth in sales volume. Cross-arm awning, which has the biggest share in quantity, increased above 10%, while the quantity growth of stationary and wintergarten awnings was about 5%. One of the most visible signs of a booming market has been the rise of textile pergolas. After years of declines caused by the introduction of bioclimatic solutions, textile awning grew again in 2021 above 10%. And this happened in a year in which bioclimatic pergolas grew well above 20% on average reaching 50.000 units sold.

Price levels are at all-time high

Most producers were forced to rise prices in 2021 and will likely face rising costs again in 2022. Although prices increased did not yet reduce demand, consumer spending will start to feel the hit of inflationary pressures. The expected rise in energy costs will lead household to reduce spending for other products and services. Interconnection predicts that outdoor living will stabilize in the next 3 years despite some positive growth is still expected in 2022. Textile outdoor will stay around 1,5 million units sold up to 2024, while bioclimatic pergolas are expected to keep growing in average by around 10%.

05/04/2022

Copyright: Interconnection, Publication free of charge for coverage regarding the study and InterConnection Consulting.