Restaurant furniture prices rose 52.4% in the ten years to September 2026, three-quarters of it from 2020 to 2022

Sat, 24 Oct 2026 08:57:07 -0400

The Bureau of Labor Statistics producer price index for public furniture, the group that covers furniture made for bars, bowling centers, cafeterias and restaurants, stood at 213.228 in September 2026. That is 52.4% above September 2016, when it stood at 139.900. A producer price index tracks the prices U.S. makers receive for what they sell, before a dealer’s markup, freight or duty. Most of the ten-year rise came in two years. From September 2020 to September 2022 the index rose 40.5%, which accounts for 77% of the gain over the decade. The September 2026 value matches August’s, the highest in a series that begins in December 2003, and it is preliminary.

Restaurant furniture prices rose 40.5% from September 2020 to September 2022

Producer price indexes for public furniture (bar, bowling center, cafeteria and restaurant, PCU3371273371278) and for all institutional furniture manufacturing (PCU337127337127), both December 2003=100, not seasonally adjusted, monthly, September 2016 to September 2026

June through September 2026 are preliminary. Source: fred.stlouisfed.org

The index for all institutional furniture manufacturing, which also takes in products such as public building furniture, rose faster over the decade, by 69.1% to 238.640. The two indexes share a base month, December 2003, so their levels can be compared directly. Restaurant furniture rose more slowly than the wider industry from 2016 to 2020 and again after 2022, and faster in the two years between.

Producer price indexes for restaurant furniture and for all institutional furniture, December 2003=100, at the start and end of three periods. The last column is each period's share of the 73.3-point rise in the restaurant furniture index from September 2016 to September 2026. September 2026 is preliminary.
Period	Restaurant furniture at start	Restaurant furniture at end	Restaurant furniture change (%)	Institutional furniture at start	Institutional furniture at end	Institutional furniture change (%)	Share of the ten-year rise in restaurant furniture (%)
Sep 2016 to Sep 2020	139.900	139.400	-0.4%	141.100	155.800	10.4%	-0.7%
Sep 2020 to Sep 2022	139.400	195.898	40.5%	155.800	199.830	28.3%	77.0%
Sep 2022 to Sep 2026	195.898	213.228	8.8%	199.830	238.640	19.4%	23.6%
Sep 2016 to Sep 2026	139.900	213.228	52.4%	141.100	238.640	69.1%	100.0%

Source: fred.stlouisfed.org

Three periods

From September 2016 to September 2020 the restaurant furniture index ended where it started. It stood at 139.400 in September 2020, 0.4% below four years earlier. The largest moves in those four years were one fall and the rise that followed it. The index dropped 9.2% in July 2018, from 139.700 to 126.800, held there for five months, then rose 6.8% in February 2019. The institutional furniture index rose 10.4% over the same four years.

From September 2020 to September 2022 the index rose in 18 of 24 months. It gained 16.9% in the year to September 2021 and 20.2% in the year to September 2022. The two largest monthly rises of the decade came back to back. The index rose 7.6% in May 2022 and 6.9% in June 2022, a combined 15.1% that added 25.4 points, about a third of the ten-year rise. Institutional furniture rose 28.3% over those two years.

Since September 2022 the index has risen 8.8%, about 2.1% a year compounded. It fell 2.7% in April 2024 and ended the year to September 2024 down 2.6%, then rose 4.1% and 4.3% in the two years since. The institutional furniture index rose 19.4% from September 2022 to September 2026.

Restaurant furniture producer price index, September to September, with the change in all institutional furniture and the number of months the restaurant index rose, held or fell. September 2026 is preliminary.
Year	Restaurant furniture at start	Restaurant furniture at end	Restaurant furniture change (%)	Institutional furniture change (%)	Months up	Months unchanged	Months down
Sep 2016 to Sep 2017	139.900	139.500	-0.3%	1.8%	2	9	1
Sep 2017 to Sep 2018	139.500	126.800	-9.1%	0.3%	2	7	3
Sep 2018 to Sep 2019	126.800	136.000	7.3%	5.7%	3	9	0
Sep 2019 to Sep 2020	136.000	139.400	2.5%	2.3%	3	7	2
Sep 2020 to Sep 2021	139.400	162.933	16.9%	9.5%	9	2	1
Sep 2021 to Sep 2022	162.933	195.898	20.2%	17.1%	9	2	1
Sep 2022 to Sep 2023	195.898	201.442	2.8%	4.4%	6	3	3
Sep 2023 to Sep 2024	201.442	196.282	-2.6%	1.7%	1	9	2
Sep 2024 to Sep 2025	196.282	204.342	4.1%	6.3%	5	7	0
Sep 2025 to Sep 2026	204.342	213.228	4.3%	5.8%	5	7	0

Source: fred.stlouisfed.org

The index moves in steps

The restaurant furniture index held at the same value in 62 of the 120 months from October 2016 to September 2026. It rose in 45 months and fell in 13. It held in at least seven months of the twelve in seven of the ten years to September, all but the years to September 2021, 2022 and 2023. The table below lists the ten largest moves of the decade, up or down, including both falls of more than 2%.

The ten largest monthly changes in the restaurant furniture producer price index, September 2016 to September 2026, by size in index points.
Month	Index before	Index after	Change (points)	Change (%)	Status
2018-07	139.700	126.800	-12.9	-9.2%	Final
2019-02	127.200	135.900	8.7	6.8%	Final
2021-06	147.000	153.300	6.3	4.3%	Final
2021-07	153.300	157.716	4.4	2.9%	Final
2021-09	158.074	162.933	4.9	3.1%	Final
2021-12	163.741	168.470	4.7	2.9%	Final
2022-05	168.841	181.726	12.9	7.6%	Final
2022-06	181.726	194.267	12.5	6.9%	Final
2024-04	201.745	196.282	-5.5	-2.7%	Final
2025-07	199.803	204.342	4.5	2.3%	Final

Source: fred.stlouisfed.org

The wider institutional furniture index changed in 115 of the same 120 months.

What this means for a furniture budget

If a contract or a capital plan escalates furniture costs by an index, name it by its full title and series code. “Producer Price Index for public furniture (bar, bowling center, cafeteria and restaurant), PCU3371273371278” and “Producer Price Index for institutional furniture manufacturing, PCU337127337127” gave different answers over the decade, 52.4% against 69.1%. A stepped index can show no change for most of a year and then jump, so measuring from one month to a single month a year later can land before or after a step. Ask the vendor which index and which months they would use, and have your contract counsel review the wording.
For a budget, compare a dealer’s proposed increase with the index over the same months. As a worked example in round numbers, a restaurant patio package priced at $100,000 in September 2025 and repriced to follow the restaurant furniture index would come to about $104,300 in September 2026, since the index rose 4.3% over that year. A proposed increase of 10% on the same order would be more than twice what the index shows. The difference may come from freight, duty or materials, which this index leaves out, so ask the dealer to break the increase down. The tariff guide covers duties on imported seats and tables, and the September 2026 article on institutional furniture prices covers steel and aluminum prices over the last two years.

Example in round numbers: an order repriced by the restaurant furniture index, September 2025 to September 2026. Not a quote.
Step	Index value	Order value ($)
Order priced in September 2025	204.342	$100,000
Index change to September 2026	213.228 (up 4.3%)	$4,300
Order repriced by the index in September 2026	213.228	$104,300
A proposed 10% increase on the same order		$110,000

Source: fred.stlouisfed.org

Caveats

The BLS data mark June through September 2026 as preliminary, and those values can still be revised. Values through May 2026 are final.

These are national producer price indexes for U.S. makers. They measure what makers receive, and they leave out a dealer’s markup and the duty and freight on an imported chair. The public furniture series groups furniture by the kind of business it serves, and its title makes no split between indoor and outdoor products. The BLS index for metal outdoor and casual furniture ends with December 2017.

Neither index is seasonally adjusted. The yearly changes in this article compare September with September, the same month each year. A national index says how prices moved on average across the makers BLS surveys, and a single line of tables or chairs can move more or less than that average.

Restaurant furniture | Commercial Outdoor Furniture

Restaurant furniture prices rose 52.4% in the ten years to September 2026, three-quarters of it from 2020 to 2022

Three periods

The index moves in steps

What this means for a furniture budget

Caveats