2025: a turning point for Italian digital commerce
According to Netcomm, the past year has led to radical changes in Italian trade, which will inevitably impact 2026 and beyond.
Keep reading...Giovanna Ceolini, president of Assocalzaturifici, comments on the fatigue of the Italian footwear industry encountered in 2023 as follows: “The year that has just ended had an undulating trend for the Italian footwear industry. The brilliant performance of the first quarter, with double-digit increases in exports and turnover, was followed by a gradual slowdown. The 2024 is showing worrying signs at the start, and we expect a further slowdown at least in the first half of the year. A conjuncture determined by the difficult international scenario, dominated by geopolitical events and risks, and restrictive financial conditions for families and businesses.”
Among foreign markets, France is confirmed in first place (+17.3% in value and +1.1% in quantity on January-October 2022), whose figures also include the return flows of production carried out in Italy by French luxury multinationals. The selection process among companies continues (with a heavy -5.3% between industry and handicrafts), despite the resilience in the number of employees (which marks +1.8%, although still below 2019 pre-Covid levels and down in the last quarter).
The Italian footwear sector, thanks to favorable results in the first part of the year, closes 2023 with turnover at €14.6 billion, weakly up on 2022 (+0.9%) supported by exports, which stand at €12.8 billion (+1.1% in value). The trade balance is good (5.8 billion, +7.3%), but Italian household spending (-1.5%) and especially the volumes produced (which cancelled out the recovery of 2022 returning to 148 million pairs, -8.6%) and those exported (-10.6%), in significant contraction.
