Ikea says “times are changing” and so it must too, as the furniture giant scraps its annual shopping catalogue.

One of the world’s biggest shopping magazines, Ikea’s bible-sized catalogue is being discontinued following the release of its final – smaller – edition in October 2021.

Inter Ikea Group CEO Jon Abrahamsson Ring said the final version will celebrate the catalogue’s history in a smaller book “filled with great home furnishing inspiration and knowledge”.

The 70-year old publication reached a peak in 2016 when more than 200 million copies in 32 languages were distributed to households and Ikea stores in more than 50 markets.

Ikea executive Konrad Grüss said: “Turning the page with our beloved catalogue is in fact a natural process since media consumption and customer behaviours have changed”.

“In order to reach and interact with the many people, we will keep inspiring with our home furnishing solutions in new ways,” he continued.

Online sales have surged during the coronavirus pandemic. In the 12 months to August, Ikea saw a 45 per cent increase in people purchasing products online and a staggering four billion visits to its website.

Ikea released its first catalogue in 1951. Photo: AAP

Its very first edition, featuring the MK Wing Chair, totalled 285,000 copies and was distributed in southern Sweden, while the last one, from this year, has an edition of 40 million.

The move is part of Ikea’s push to become more digital as consumers increasingly seek inspiration online as well as shopping via the web.

“The number of copies has gone down but we have also seen that people have much more used our website, apps and social media. The catalogue became less and less important,” said Konrad Gruss, managing director at franchisor Inter Ikea Systems.

Ikea released the first annual edition of its catalogue in 1951, while the first dual-version (online and in print) was released in 2000.

-with AAP