The first half of 2023 closed on a positive note for the Italian footwear industry, recording growth in turnover (+7.4%) and exports (+10.2% in value in the first 5 months). However, less satisfactory figures come from volume: -6.8% for exports and -5.7% for production (according to the Istat industrial production index).

Household spending came to a halt in May and June, after remaining rather stagnant throughout the first half of the year (-1.2% in value and -3.4% in volume). This, in summary, is the picture drawn by the Confindustria Moda Research Centre for Assocalzaturifici just days before Micam Milano, the international footwear fair taking place at Fiera Milano (Rho) from September 17 to 20, 2023.

“The widely expected slowdown finally materialised in the second quarter of the current year, said Assocalzaturifici chair Giovanna Ceolini. "In the April-May period, after double-digit increases in the previous months, exports, which have always been the sector’s driving force, showed rather stable values (+1%) and a setback in volume (-14.9%).

Despite the recent concerns over the slowdown in the national economy, very encouraging signs have come so far from China (+20.4% in volume and +43.4% in value), where the average price, by far the highest among the main outlet markets for Italian footwear, clearly shows that these figures are linked above all to the performance of the large luxury brands, in a market that is not easy to penetrate for companies with their own brand.

“The rebound in Russia and Ukraine is worth noting (+37% and +56% in value, respectively), although it should be borne in mind that the comparison period includes months when the outbreak of the war had caused sales to plummet in the two markets involved," Ceolini continued. "Despite the rebound in 2022, current levels are very close (+1.2%) to those of the first 5 months of 2021, already strongly affected by the pandemic before the war. Finally, the balance of trade, driven by foreign sales, touched 3 billion euros (+14.2%) in the first 5 months”.

On the domestic consumption front, according to the Fashion Consumer Panel of Sita Ricerca for Assocalzaturifici, after a start to the year marked by recovery, household spending on footwear decreased sharply in the following three months, especially in May and June. Overall, the second quarter of the year saw a decrease of -9.8% in terms of pairs and -7.9% in value, cancelling out the progress of the previous months and bringing the total figure for the first 6 months into negative territory.