Italy’s apparel retail sales rose 3.4 per cent in September 2019 compared to the same month last year. Footwear and leather goods sales in the same period rose 4.2 per cent. Sales of perfume and personal care sector rose by 0.9 per cent.

In January 2019, fashion sales in Italy fell 0.2 per cent, then grew 2.4 per cent in February and slowed down in March, to 0.6 per cent. In April, Italian fashion sales fell again, with a drop of 1.3 per cent, while in May the fall was 4.9 per cent. In June, the sector rose 2.3 per cent and in July the rise was 1.5 per cent.

Fifteen out of the 43 European fashion giants are Italian. Apparel is the most important segment in Italian fashion, accounting for 40.5 per cent of total revenues, followed by leather wear (20.9 per cent) and eyewear (16.2 per cent). The fastest growing segment is jewelry, with an annual average growth rate of 13.3 per cent. Italy’s fashion industry has grown by three per cent on an average every year in the last decade. Its annual revenues account for around four per cent of Italy’s gross domestic output.