APPLiA market / white goods and household appliances

Appstat has now presented the market figures for February and shows that the market continues to suffer losses during February. The loss compared to the previous year now amounts to almost 8 percent in value (sell-in value) for the Swedish white goods and household appliance market.

When the content and tone of the geopolitical news flow creates uncertainty among companies and consumers, it is clear that purchasing and consumption behavior does not favor any form of durable goods in Sweden. White goods and household appliances are no exception. February's figures from Appstat confirm the trend we have already seen of a very weak start to 2026. From today's horizon, it is also difficult to see how this situation could improve in the short term.

For the larger white goods (MDA above), the ”brake” will ultimately come from restrained private consumption and a low level of housing production, as well as the fact that the replacement of white goods within property companies across the country is limited. It cannot be ruled out that the deterioration of the RUT deduction at the turn of the year led to fewer renovations of kitchens and laundry rooms than would otherwise have been the case. The right to deduct labor costs was then reduced from 50 percent to 30 percent.

The Swedish electronics tax is also a price-increasing factor, which results in significant increases in the cost of white goods of up to almost 700 SEK per product for consumers. In this tough market situation, this is of course a strong anti-competitive factor for Swedish industry and trading companies when it comes to white goods and other home electronics.

Household appliances (SDA) have started the year somewhat less negatively than larger white goods. There are even some product categories with quite substantial increases – e.g. vacuum cleaners and ironing equipment – which helps to raise the overall outcome (-1.6%) for the entire SDA segment. The best figures for the past two months are shown by the large ”kitchen machines” with a capacity of 6 liters and above – they will be baking, cleaning, ironing and making things nice in Swedish homes this spring, right?

//Kent O

Market development