The IKEA shops in Italy have closed their financial year 2004/2005 with sales 883 milllion, an increase of 23.7 per cent on the previous years sales. IKEA has announced that in 2006 it intends to open three more stores in Italy, creating 1,100 new jobs. However, trade is not just one-way Italy is the fourth country in the world supplying IKEA with furniture and household goods after China, Sweden and Poland. A total 7.2 per cent of all merchandise bought by IKEA comes from Italy, while the sales in Italy represent 5.5 per cent of the overall world sales of the group.