Tile Consumption Grew 5.8% in 2016

Orlando, FL, April 5, 2017—Strengthened by steady growth in the housing and construction markets, the U.S. economy continued to expand in 2016, helping lift the U.S. ceramic tile market to a seventh straight year of growth, reports the Tile Council of North America.

U.S. ceramic tile consumption in 2016 was 2.90 billion square feet, up 5.8% versus 2015 (2.74 billion square feet).

For perspective, 2016 is the fourth highest level ever reached by the U.S. ceramic tile market, topped only by the pre-recession boom of 2004-2006, when consumption was more than three billion square feet annually.

In 2016, 1.99 billion square feet of ceramic tile arrived in the U.S., up 5.7% from 2015 (1.88 billion square feet). Imports in 2016 made up 68.6% of U.S. tile consumption (in square feet), down slightly from 68.7% the previous year.

In 2016 China remained the largest exporter to the U.S. (in square feet) with a 29.4% share of U.S. imports (in square feet), followed by Mexico (23.4%) and Italy (19.4%). Spain and Turkey rounded out the top five with a 9.3% and 5.1% share of imports, respectively.

The five countries from which the most tiles were imported in 2016 based on sq. ft. were, China Mexico, Italy, Spain and Turkey.