Land of tiles

The Chinese market for floor coverings accounts for sales of some 3.9 bn m² annually. This is the scale of the estimate of nationwide sales in 2011 reached by Catalina Research, an American market research institute. A 75 per cent share of the total (2.93 bn m²) went on tiles. Following next at a great distance were fitted carpets and rugs at nine per cent (351 mio m²), then elastic flooring at five per cent (195 mio m²). Next came laminate flooring with four per cent (156 mio m²), as well as solid wood and bamboo flooring, also on four per cent. Stone floors came bottom of the table at three per cent (117 mio m²). As Catalina Research reports, the share of wooden flooring has seen growth overall in recent years. Based on the population increase in the major cities up to 2025 it is estimated that, in the future, the total demand for new flooring will come to between 149 and 177 mio m² per year. These figures were published by EPLF, the association of European producers of laminate flooring, which sees growing potential in the high-end segment for quality laminate flooring sourced from European production.