It’s been a poor year for the woodcare market, with sales down almost £17 million year on year January–October, analysts GfK reported this week.

Exterior woodcare products, like many other garden care products, have seen declines throughout the year, largely due to the poor summer. Interior furniture care managed to report small value growth.

Of the overall £17 million decline, the majority has come from the exterior categories, driven by water-based treatment, which were down 13% in value versus last year. Similar categories have also struggled in 2012, with decking declining 15% in value and garden furniture care declining 23% in value between January and October.

Within the exterior woodcare, however, garden colour products have reported 10% value growth and there were more litres sold.