IKEA annual sales fell 5% after the Swedish budget homeware retailer cut prices in a bid to attract more shoppers and maintain its share of a shrinking home furniture market, but it expects a recovery next year.

Ikea reported Thursday that its annual sales fell in value after the world's biggest furniture retailer lowered prices to revive traffic at its online and brick-and-mortar stores.

Last year, Ikea slashed prices to give inflation-weary customers a break, but revenue fell for the first time in four years.

The Swedish furniture giant’s sales fell 5.3% to $49.34 billion in the 12 months to Aug. 31, after lowering the prices of its goods to encourage shoppers into stores.

The Inter IKEA Group has reported a 5.3% drop in IKEA retail sales revenue for the financial year 2024 (FY24), which totalled €45.1bn ($49.3bn) - down from €47.6bn in FY23. The company attributed the decline primarily to its strategic decision to lower prices across its global markets,