The first quarter of 2019 saw a boom in exports nudging 16.6 billion, registering +5.6%.
Confindustria Moda, the fashion federation which unites businesses and associations from the fashion textile and accessory sector, presented its final figures for 2018 along with data from the first quarter of 2019. The figures were presented at Milan’s Bocconi University, during the first Assembly to be held since the Federation was established, under the chairmanship of Claudio Marenzi.
2018 Figures
Final turnover figures for the associated companies reveal that 2018 witnessed annual growth of +0.7%, increasing to 95.5 billion Euro.
Last year confirmed the distinctly international vocation of the member companies, generating overall exports worth 63.4 billion Euro, up 2.7% on the previous year (1.64 billion more). 49.6% of this business was generated by textile-clothing, followed by footwear and leather goods, respectively accounting for 15.1% and 12.9%; jewellery covered 10.2% whilst eyewear and tanning both accounted for around 6.0% and fur totalled 1.0%.
At the same time, imports signalled an annual increase of +3.6%, greater than the increase witnessed by sales abroad, worth almost 35.3 billion.
Details of the geographical distribution of trade in the sectors examined show that in 2018, the EU absorbed 46.8% of exports in terms of value, whilst it generated 45.4% of imports. In complementary terms, areas outside the EU covered 53.2% of sales in Italy, whilst accounting for 54.6% of imports.
Given the similar export and import trends, the commercial balance for the textiles, fashion and accessories sector is in excess of 28.1 billion euro, gaining over 424 million in the twelve-month period (+1.5%). The sector accordingly confirms its place as Italy’s second-largest industry in terms of business profit after only the mechanical industry.
Figures for 1st quarter 2019
From January to March 2019, the textiles, fashion and accessories sector demonstrated its continued ability to make its mark on foreign markets: exports were up by +5.6%, for an overall value of 16.6 billion Euro; imports, on the other hand, totalled 9.1 billion thanks to an upward trend of +2.3%. The trade balance was accordingly worth 7.4 billion, by virtue of a +9.9% increase.
These figures reveal that foreign trade is growing at a faster rate than in the first quarter of 2018, which saw exports notching up a +2.1% variation, and imports increasing by +0.8%, in spite of the expected worsening resulting from political and financial crises which have aggravated the national and international scenario.
For Claudio Marenzi, President of Confindustria Moda, "Together, we compete better. These results demonstrate this without a doubt. Over the years, we have all worked together to build up a system and help industries that are different, but share similar problems. We are the only supply chain which is completely integrated both upstream and downstream, and we have managed to combine a legacy of craftsmanship and know-how with a successful industry that represents Italy worldwide. There are many challenges facing us, including training, protecting Italian manufacturing, pushing for simpler taxation, reducing labour costs, the liberalisation of foreign trade and sustainability. We can only succeed if we tackle them all together."