In first quarter this year, the industry of Made in Italy hats showed a very positive trend, recording growing numbers in the various segments. This was revealed by an analysis by the Italian Federation of Various Textile and Hat Industries based on Istat data.
In particular, the caps recorded total foreign sales of 84,3 million euros, up 42% on 2021, 105,5% on 2020 and 103,4% on 2019.
The performances of the straw hats, which had suffered a sudden slowdown during the pandemic due to the drop in tourist flows: now exports have risen again to 7,5 million, up by 27,6% on 2021 and by 5,1% compared to 2020. Compared to 2019, however, the figure is still 15,5% lower.
Hats made in Italy: the main outlet markets
The main outlet market for the sector is confirmed Switzerland, where the logistics and distribution platforms of the main luxury multinationals are present. It should also be noted that the Swiss market grew by 9,5% on 2021, to 16,4 million, with a strong recovery both on the first quarter of 2020 (+173%) and on the same period of 2019 (+84,7%) .
Among the main outlet partners, however, are the European proximity markets such as French (11,2 million, +51,4% compared to 2021, +102,2% compared to 2020) and Germany (9,7 million, +42,9% on 2021, +116,2% on 2020). Well there too Spain (3,6 million, +70,9% compared to 2021, +61,6% compared to 2020).
Finally, the strong recovery of the Usa (7,7 million, +61,3% on 2021, +167,9% on 2020), while the UK returns positive for the first time after Brexit with 3,9 million (+32,6% on 2021), although volumes are still 13,3% lower than in 2020.
As for the Asian continent, the South Korea achieves a turnover of 2,9 million (+115,9% on 2021, +230,8% on 2020), thus exceeding the Japan (2,8 million, +71% compared to the first quarter of 2021, +229,7% compared to 2020).
