Within a hugely uncertain global context, the 2025 edition of the Salone consolidated the results achieved in 2023, when Euroluce was last held. Informing the agenda for 2026, the highest ever percentage of foreign professionals was testament to the key role of the trade fair, which offered new business opportunities to 151 countries.
The 2025 edition of the Salone del Mobile – which opened against a backdrop of strong market turbulence – notched up 302,548 presences, a figure in line with the Euroluce 2023 (a Biennial exhibition), confirming the key role of the event, which this year turned the international spotlight on 2,103 exhibitors from 37 countries with an unparalleled offering. Complementing it was a Cultural Programme, which generated new visions of the future, beyond the challenges. The positive data was fuelled by foreign professionals, accounting for 68% of attendees. The initial results of the Survey conducted by Native Strategy for the fourth consecutive year (sample group of 475 exhibitors) showed that all indicators were stable. The visitor satisfaction index stood at 88%, while the exhibitors’ intention to return index stood at 94%.
Top 10 foreign countries by provenance
The ranking by country of origin for the 2025 edition confirmed China in first place, evidencing a slight drop compared to 2023, which becomes net compared to the 2024 attendance figures, the sign of an economy that is facing internal and external structural challenges. This figure was balanced out by the overall stability in European professional numbers, in line with the export value of the Italian furnishing macrosystem to the world’s leading single market (around 10 billion euros in 2024, 51% of the total). Germany took second plae in the Top 10, seeing strong growth, followed by two of the best performing 2024 furniture macrosystem export markets, Spain (5,423 professionals; exports +4.1%) and Poland (5,325 professionals; exports +9.1%). They were followed by Brazil, Russia, France, the United States, India and Switzerland.
New Geographies: Central Asia and the Gulf States
In the aftermath of the announcement of the US tariffs, at a time of maximum international market tension, the 2025 edition of the Salone registered great expectations for new business geographies: from 8th April onwards, 350 major investors, buyers, retailers, contractors and media from 50 countries with 27 delegations from Asia and the Gulf countries attended the trade fair, thanks to the support of the ITA – Italian Trade Agency. Key markets driving the change of demand include the United Arab Emirates, which doubled its attendance at Fiera Milano, Rho in 2025 (1,801 professionals) and Saudi Arabia, with which the Salone signed an initial Memorandum in January for the realisation of new projects in the design field. Finally, Japanese attendance rose from 20th to 13th place, in line with the positive trend of exports in the furnishing macrosystem in 2024 (2,712 operators; exports +2.7%). Also in the Central Asian area, South Korea is holding firm.
Salone Under 35
The number of students visiting Salone 2025 was in line with 2024 and sharply up on 2023: 8,517 Italians, 6,543 foreigners, a 38% increase over the previous edition of Euroluce. Added to these numbers were the 39,000 visitors to SaloneSatellite, which confirmed its status as an international lexicon of contemporary creativity, a reference point for companies in search of new talent. The 2025 edition saw 700 participants from 37 countries.
Special Projects
The Salone 2025 Cultural Programme achieved great success in terms of numbers, extending into the city from the fairgrounds this year with two major projects, realised in collaboration with two of Milan’s most prestigious institutions. From 6th to 13th April, 95,300 people visited The Library of Light, the installation by Es Devlin that, in the year of Euroluce, illuminated the Cortile d’Onore of the Pinacoteca di Brera with a tribute to the value of knowledge. Robert Wilson. Mother, at the Museo della Pietà – Castello Sforzesco, sold out within a matter of hours for the entire Salone del Mobile week, and will remain open until 18th May, in tribute to the city. Within the Fiera Milano Rho fairgrounds, La dolce attesa by Oscar-winning director Paolo Sorrentino, an invitation to reflect on the value of time and uncertainty, also sold out. Also at the fairgrounds, Villa Héritage, the interior design project entrusted to the French architect Pierre-Yves Rochon, generated new «wonder», thanks to his highly sensitive reinterpretation of the high craftsmanship of yesterday and today and the contribution of over 40 Made in Italy brands.
The Euroluce International Lighting Forum
Between 10th and 11th April, more than 1,500 participants took part in the masterclasses and round tables at the first edition of The Euroluce International Lighting Forum, the new Salone del Mobile.Milano project, directed by Annalisa Rosso, Editorial Director and Cultural Events Advisor of the Salone del Mobile.Milano, in collaboration with APIL. It featured 20 international speakers, including the Solar Designer Marjan van Aubel; Lonneke Gordijn, Co-Founder of Studio Drift; Patrick Rimoux, the Lighting Designer who illuminated the new Notre Dame in Paris; Robert Wilson, the undisputed master of light, the Italian Neurobiologist Stefano Mancuso, Professor at the University of Florence, known for his research and popularisation around the intelligence of plants and their role in climate adaptation; Tim Ingold, Professor Emeritus of Anthropology at the University of Aberdeen; Kaoru Mende, the Japanese Architect and Lighting Designer, and Piero Benvenuti, Professor of Astrophysics at the University of Padua. The talks and round tables at the third edition of Drafting Futures were also well attended, with guests including the British Artist Es Devlin; Valeria Segovia, Principal and Design Director at Gensler; the Danish architect Bjarke Ingels, Founder and Creative Director of Bjarke Ingels Group; Lesley Lokko, Founder and President of the African Futures Institute, and the Oscar-winning Filmmaker Paolo Sorrentino.
Sustainability
The ISO 20121 process was intensified during the trade fair, which has been certified since 2023 for sustainable events management, and included promoting the Green Guidelines for exhibitors’ stands. During Salone 2025, the Consorzio Nazionale Sistema Arredo (Italian Furnishing System Consortium), promoted by FederlegnoArredo, and the Ministry for the Environment and Energy Security, in the presence of Deputy Minister Vannia Gava, signed the programme agreement that kicks off a preparatory testing period in view of a future extended producer responsibility (EPR) scheme for the furnishing sector. The challenge is to manage the end-of-life of furniture in a sustainable way, curbing the loss of economic and environmental value that occurs when these high quality materials become waste.
