Statistics of Holiday Decoration Exports in China

Export Value and Volume

The holiday decoration industry of China had a recorded export value around $3.43 billion in 2011, increasing by more than 30% year-on-year. Christmas decoration exports accounted for 67.35% of the total export value, or $2.31 billion, increasing by 36.2% year-on-year, according to Alibaba Group and Focus Technology Co.

The United States remained the biggest market in terms of export value, with a market share of 41.36 %, followed by the UK and Germany with market shares of 7.41% and 4.95%. The European Union had an estimated market share of around 34% in all.

The overseas market saw growth in the period 2009-2011. During that period, the export value of Christmas decoration products from China to the Russian Federation, Brazil, Spain and The United Kingdom had significant growth rate of 158.1%, 101.3%, 99.4% and 82.0%. On the other hand, the export value to the United States and Canada had grown by 62.0% and 68.5%.

In terms of export volume, Christmas decoration products were decreasing year by year, with a total amount of 435,300 tons in 2011, compared to 487,100 tons in 2009.

Provincial Export Statistics

In China, Guangdong Province was the leading holiday decoration export province, with export value of $2,059.58 million in 2011, increasing by 61.8% year-on-year. Export volume was 394,070 tons in 2011, decreasing by 0.7% year-on-year. Zhejiang Province took the second place, with export value of $809.72 million in 2011, increasing by 18% year-on-year. Export volume was 164,228 tons in 2011, decreasing by 0.1% year-on-year.

Following is Fujian Province, with export value of $115.47 million in 2011, decreasing by 15.5% year-on-year. Export volume was 247,628 tons in 2011, decreasing by 23.4% year-on-year.

In 2011, Guangxi province, the 9th place on the list, had a significant year-on-year growth rate of 51.1% and export value up to $25.61 million.

Threats and Opportunities

In 2012, the European sovereign debt crisis has caused European economy to slump and dimed the future of global economy recovery. Meanwhile, exports of holiday decoration products from China are adversely impacted.

Sun Lijian, deputy director of the School of Economics at Fudan University in Shanghai, tells the Global Times that "The European debt crisis has had a long-drawn-out effect on the global economy as financial drawbacks slowly spread to Asia." He predicts that China's export volumes will no longer see rapid growth like those of 2011.

On the other hand, the increasing labor costs had further weakened profit margins of most holiday decoration enterprises in China, along with the appreciation of yuan.

The opportunity for domestic manufacturers lies in new emerging markets, including the BRIC countries - Brazil, Russia, India and China.