Inflation and emigration, clothing and footwear imports fall in 2023

2024-03-22 12:23:00, Ekonomi CNA

In 2023, imports of clothing and footwear in volume marked the sharpest decline since the pandemic year of 2020 when people limited spending on clothing due to the long isolation measures.

INSTAT data show that 75.6 thousand tons of clothing were imported last year with a 3.5% decrease, but the decrease was stronger for shoes with over 19%.

Sources from the minority markets refer to two reasons that led to the decline in sales in the clothing sector. The first is related to high inflation in the food group. The wave of high prices was strongest in food, where some basket products such as dairy, vegetables and fruit grew at double-digit rates last year.

On the other hand, the massive emigration of young people and the reduction of this age group are reducing the demand for clothing. Younger groups are big consumers of clothing due to adapting to trends and lifestyles at this age.

The decline in clothing imports was also reflected in the value. In 2023, 94 billion ALL of clothing and shoes were imported with an annual decrease of -7.4%.

Foreign trade data show that episodes of decline in clothing and footwear imports are present in crisis years. Analyzing the performance since 2005, the imports of clothing and footwear fell in 2009 as a result of the financial crisis of 2008. The decline was present in 2012 due to the inhibition of economic growth and in 2020, due to restrictions on pandemic.

Sales in the clothing and footwear sector are exposed to economic crises and high inflation. After the war in Ukraine, prices saw record levels across Europe, which affected consumer behavior. In order to cope with food needs, in times of crisis, consumers reduce their purchases of clothes, but especially shoes.

The decline in demand for footwear has been present all over the world in the past year. This decline in minority markets has led to shrinking orders in factories, causing many of them to go bankrupt.

Since the last 3 months in our country, hundreds of workshops with up to 130 employees have started to close, as a result of the drop in demand from partner countries./Monitor