Italy is the first producer of footwear of the European Union and 13th in the world, but this sector – because of the war between Russia and Ukraine – risks not recovering pre-covid levels on schedule. This is what emerges from the first report by the Mediobanca Research Area on the footwear sector. The study, anticipated on Wednesday, was carried out on the occasion of Micam, the international footwear exhibition to be held in Milan from 13 to 15 March.
Italian footwear: an international leadership
According to the experts of Piazzetta Cuccia, it is almost made in our country a third of the footwear produced in the European Union: 32,2%, equal to 131 million pairs. The other two steps on the podium are occupied by Spain (17,7%) and Portugal (16,2%).
Also, in the world of footwear Italy is also in third place in the world as regards the value of exports, with a share of 8%, preceded only by China (28,2%) and Vietnam (17,6%).
In 'high range, on the other hand, no one in the world beats Italian footwear. The average price of Italian exports (60,43 dollars per pair) is the highest in the world, almost twice that of France (36,44) and over twelve times that of China (4,79/pair).
Where do we export the most footwear and how much Russia weighs
In detail, last year Italian exports in the footwear sector reached 10,3 billion euros, the second best result ever after that of 2019, even net of inflation. Russia is worth 2,7% of exports and it is only the tenth outlet market, but the sanctions could limit the spending of many high-end consumers. L'Ukraine instead it stops at 0,4% (in 26th place).
Growing data is arriving from the two main destinations for Italian footwear exports: la Switzerland marks a growth of 16,2% in the first 11 months of 2021, while the France by 24%. Well too United States (+ 41,8%) and China (+ 37,5%).
Difficult to recover pre-Covid levels
in 2021 the turnover of Italian footwear companies shows a recovery to 9,5 billion euros, an increase of 21% on 2020 (which instead had suffered a decrease of 22,4% compared to the previous year). The result, however, is still lower than that of 2019 (-6%). According to Mediobanca's report, the scenario of a return to pre-crisis levels expected in 2022 is currently compromised by the Russia-Ukraine conflict, which implies strong repercussions on energy and raw material prices and on trade flows towards Russia and Ukraine.
In 2021, companies in the high-end segment reacted better (+32%) than those operating in the cheaper segment (+13%), coming close to pre-crisis levels (-2% on 2019).
