A 2022 to be framed for the Italian goldsmith sector which closed the year with a turnover up by 22,1%, reinforcing the strong rebound accrued in 2021 (55,1%). A result achieved also thanks to exports which last year exceeded 9 billion euros with a full recovery of pre-Covid levels both in value (+41%) and in quantity (+5%).
This is what emerges from the Joint report on the Italian gold sector made by the Club degli Orafi and Intesa Sanpaolo.
Gold and jewels: turnover of 13,2 billion for Italian companies, exports +41%
In 2022 the Italian gold and jewelery sector recorded a turnover equal to 13,2 billion euros, an increase of 22,1% compared to 2021, a year in which we had already seen a powerful rebound (+55,1%) which had allowed the sector to raise its head again after the difficulties experienced in 2020 due to the pandemic.
70% of the turnover is destined for export, which in 2022 stood at 10,3 billion, of which 9 billion euros relating to jewellery, with a growth of around 20% compared to the previous year and with a full recovery of pre-Covid levels both in value ( +41%), both in quantity (+5%). Among the different markets, the United States they are confirmed with 1,5 billion euros as the first reference market (+12% in 2022), also supported by the strengthening of the dollar; exports to follow Switzerland (1,3 billion euro; + 21%) and the United Arab Emirates. Le cheap imports amounted to 3,4 billion (+11,4%), with a trade balance equal to 6,8 billion.
From the report: "a picture emerges of a sector which, despite the many existing critical issues, continues to grow into its highly prominent position in the national economic system. In 2022, Italian companies were able to strengthen their role as leading quality suppliers for international luxury and jewelery companies. Of the critical issues with which the sector - and manufacturing in general - is confronted on a daily basis, such as the cost ofand raw materials, the complex geopolitical situation, the increase in the price of gold, the one that continues to arouse greater concern is the difficulty in finding human capital, training it and inserting it into a production system in continuous evolution and with an ever more driven generational turnover". he has declared Augusto Ungarelli, former president of the Club degli Orafi Italia and delegate for the Centro Studi.
Italian gold sector: forecasts and fears for 2023
In addition to the official statistics, the Report also shows the results of the third edition of the survey conducted in December 2022 with the involvement of the leading companies in the sector and developed by the Club degli Orafi with the Studies and Research Department.
“For the current year expectations for turnover are more cautious by the operators, but for the larger companies a positive majority sentiment prevails both for the internal market (56% of the interviewees ed.) and for the international markets (61% of the respondents ed.)”, reads the report . What worries operators is above all the difficulty in finding manpower which is indicated by more than half of the sample (51%) as a criticality, followed by the management of costs of raw materials (47%), while the report notes a downsizing in supply difficulties (33%).
Secondo Stefania Trenti, Head of Industry Research, Intesa Sanpaolo Studies and Research Department, the 2022 results “should be seen in a highly challenging competitive environment conditioned by inflationary pressures, restrictive monetary policies and high uncertainty and complexity. The positioning of the industry towards the top of the range you see Italy as the main production hub of luxury jewellery, represented an important strategic lever to establish itself in this context: it will be essential for companies to support this path with targeted investments towards the factors that enable the development of the sector such as human capital, process efficiency and innovation. "
