Italian leathergoods manufacturers’ national association, Assopellettieri, has reported an increase in export revenues of more than 17% in the early part of 2022, writes Leatherbiz.

At the recent Mipel event in Milan, Assopellettieri shared figures that show export revenues of almost €4.5 billion for the first five months of 2022, an increase of 17.3% compared to the same months in 2021.

Bags contributed just over €3 billion to the total, which indicates growth of 20% year on year.

Switzerland was still the biggest export market for Italian brands, registering a value of almost €1.1 billion, but this was, in fact, 7.3% down on the figure for January-May 2021.

Compensating for this, though, there was high double-digit growth in exports to other important markets, including France, South Korea, the US, Japan and Germany. And there was also high double-digit growth in shipments to these markets compared to pre-pandemic levels.