EU electric domestic appliances output is forecast to rebound modestly in 2025 and 2026, by 1.4% and 1.7% respectively on-year. However, the recovery will be slow due to continued manufacturing weakness, a subdued economic outlook, and weakened consumer demand, notes Eurofer.
In the fourth quarter of 2024, output in the sector declined for the fourth consecutive quarter, falling by 5.2%. This continued the downward trend that began in Q2 2021, following a stronger-than-expected post-Covid rebound. The contraction is expected to persist until a moderate recovery begins in Q2 2025.
The sector faced three consecutive annual recessions: -4.6% in 2022, -4.1% in 2023, and a sharper-than-expected -5% in 2024, which has been revised from -2.2%, Kallanish notes.
Previously, the sector had benefited from increased remote working, which drove demand through late 2020 and early 2021. But since then, workers’ return to offices, persistent supply chain disruptions, rising energy prices, and the deteriorating EU industrial outlook – exacerbated by the Ukraine war – have weighed on performance.
While longer-term drivers like the Internet of Things and ongoing remote work may support future growth, their positive effects are unlikely to materialise before 2026.
Elina Virchenko Bulgaria
