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TURNOVER DOWN (-2.7%) IN ITALIAN FOOTWEAR SECTOR (FIRST THREE MONTHS OF 2026) |
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Exports in the January-March quarter stood at €3 billion, down 1.6% in value and 3.6% in volume compared with the same period in 2025
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The Italian footwear sector opened the first quarter of 2026 against a complex backdrop.
“This confirms the concerns raised by companies in the forecasts gathered at the end of last January – says Giovanna Ceolini, President of Assocalzaturifici – Turnover is down 2.7%, while exports point to widespread weakness, with an overall decline of 1.6% in the first three months and even sharper contractions in non-EU markets. Against this backdrop, the domestic market has seen a slight recovery in consumption, though not enough to offset the slowdown in international markets, which remain the sector's main driver. Geopolitical tensions are compounding these difficulties. The international picture continues to be marked by unpredictability, driving up costs and slowing our buyers' purchasing decisions. Rising raw material and energy costs are a further cause for concern.
On the employment and production front, the number of companies and employees is falling.
It is essential to take action to support internationalisation, strengthen competitiveness and ensure stability for a sector that remains strategic for Made in Italy”. |
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On the domestic front, however, the signals are more encouraging. Italian households spent €1.28 billion on footwear during the quarter (retail prices), up 1.7% in value and 2.1% in volume compared with January-March 2025, driven in particular by women's shoes and trainers. Trainers, together with sports footwear, account for 41% of total spending.
According to the economic bulletin prepared by the Centro Studi of Confindustria Accessori Moda on behalf of Assocalzaturifici, exports – which account for around 90% of the sector's total turnover – are already showing signs of difficulty in the early months of the year: in the January-March quarter they stood at around €3 billion, down 1.6% in value and 3.6% in volume compared with the same period in 2025.
Among European partners, France (+6% in value, despite a 3.6% drop in volume) remains the leading destination for Italian-made footwear, while Germany has seen a sharper slowdown, down 10%.
International tensions are weighing on results: exports to the Middle East are down 33% (with a 62% fall in March alone, following the outbreak of the conflict), exports to the former Soviet bloc countries are down 21%, while the United States – grappling since spring 2025 with additional import tariffs – recorded a 7.4% decline in value.
The sector's trade balance nonetheless strengthened to €1.3 billion, up 10.9% on 2025, thanks to a sharp slowdown in imports, which fell 9.5% in value. Difficulties persist on the production and employment front. In the first three months of 2026, the number of active footwear manufacturing companies fell by 85 and employees by 808 compared with the end of 2025. The use of short-time working schemes remains significant: in the leather supply chain, hours of wage supplementation, although down 40% on the 2025 peaks, stood at 6.2 million – still more than three times the pre-pandemic level.
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