In 2004, exports of furniture from Jepara were at a level of 141 million dollars, according to an industry official in Jepara.

Jepara famous by its furniture industry. The production of teak and mahogany furniture, employs approximately 800,000 people in the town, working in a large number of mainly small workshops. The trade has brought considerable prosperity to Jepara, well above the average for Central Java. Since there is a large export trade, the fall in the value of the rupiah against the U.S. dollar and other currencies has probably led to an increase in income for the furniture exporters.

Jepara furniture industry in an industry dating back to pre-colonial times and that grew to serve the needs of carved wood furniture for the royal families, skilled wood-workers ply their trade in age-old fashion, producing handcrafted teak and mahogany furniture for export around the world.

The wood-furniture industry based in Central Java today comprises more than 30 furniture clusters composed of numerous medium, small and home based enterprises, and is Central Java's largest export earner, representing around 22 per cent of total export value. It is also a major engine for generating employment and income for hundreds of thousands of people from this province.

The industry profited in the 1980s and early 1990s from growth in domestic consumer demand that made quality furniture more accessible to the growing Indonesian middle class. The 1990s brought an increased role in global markets, boosted significantly by a depreciation of the Indonesian rupiah. Indonesia is now the second largest developing country exporter of wood furniture to OECD markets, behind China.

The best of Java's furniture ends up in fashionable boutiques selling traditionally hand-crafted teak items. This is the positive side of globalization - opening new markets and new opportunities for a traditional industry. But there's also a downside. Neighbouring countries have been quick to join the race for profits, sparking fierce competition with cheaper, mass-produced items, and new designs to meet changing consumer tastes.

Increased competition has spurred demand for more "Western" designs, including self-assembly formats. Foreign buyers are also demanding more standardized quality and strict delivery schedules. Meanwhile, the demand for wood has raised logging in the hardwood forests and plantations to unsustainable levels.

The furniture industry alone uses at least 1.8 million cubic meters of wood a year, less than a third of which can be supplied by state-owned teak plantations. The rest comes from elsewhere and is often illegally harvested.