Jun 07, 2006. /Lesprom Network/. Bulgaria's furniture and wood processing output rose more than 10% to BGN 1.1 billion ($727.9 million) in 2005, after surging 26% in the previous year, SeeNews reported citing an official of the sector chamber. A breakdown of exports, imports and domestic consumption data will be available later in June, Genoveva Christova, general manager of Bulgaria's chamber of woodworking and furniture industry (BCWFI), told SeeNews. Furniture production alone grew 4.6% to BGN 503.3 million last year, after a 33.1% jump in 2004, according to BCWFI data. The growth of furniture sector in EU-acceding Bulgaria, where forests cover 35% of the country's area, is backed by booming construction sector and overall improvement of economy, BCWFI said. The major foreign markets of Bulgarian furniture producers are EU member states like the UK, Germany, Italy and France. The EU applicant country of 7.7 million people exported furniture worth some BGN 300 million in 2004. The number of woodworking and furniture companies has been increasing constantly over the last years and at present there are 3 500 mainly small and medium-sized enterprises operating in the sector, the chamber said. The number of employed in the sector rose to 80 000 last year from 72 000 in 2003, the chamber said.