By Shakir Husain, Staff Reporter
 Dubai: Booming construction is driving the GCC furniture market to new heights and the

industry is expected to exceed $6.5 billion this year, industry estimates show.

Gulf Arab countries imported furniture and interior products worth about $4.5 billion in 2012 compared with $3.8 billion a year before.

Imports increased 15 per cent in 2004 and 18 per cent in 2012, according to dmg world media Dubai, which organises the Index furniture and interior products exhibition.

This year the market is expected to grow by about 45 per cent to reach $6.5 billion.

The UAE accounts for 40 per cent and Saudi Arabia 31 per cent for GCC imports of furniture, fabrics, floor coverings, lighting and ceramics.

Dubai is the main market for imports and re-exports as 41 per cent of interiors products imported into the GCC are traded through the emirate.

In 2012, Dubai recorded $1.3 billion worth of imports and $536 million worth of re-exports in the furniture and interiors sector.

Italy was the top exporter to the UAE, followed by China, the US, Spain and Britain. Saudi Arabia imported most of its furniture products from Italy, the US, China, Malaysia and Spain.

Consumption of furniture products alone is expected to reach $2.5 billion this year. According to market estimates, the value of more than 2,100 projects under way in the Gulf region is $1,000 billion.

“This seemingly endless expansion of the residential, retail and commercial property sectors across is still accelerating,” the Index organisers said.

This year’s Index, which starts on Tuesday at the Dubai International Exhibition Centre, has attracted 1,650 manufacturers and suppliers of furniture and interior products from 57 countries.

Kim Willis, exhibition development director at dmg, expects 37,000 people to visit the show.