Exports to Europe are driving the Italian leather industry
Chairwoman Giovanna Ceolini: “We are now looking closely at the opportunities arising from the opening up of new markets and agreements such as the one between Brussels and Mercosur”
“The first few months of 2026 paint a picture that remains complex, but also reveals some positive signs, which encourage us to look to the future with confidence and a down-to-earth approach. In an international landscape marked by geopolitical tensions and changing purchasing patterns in the Far East, our companies are demonstrating their ability to adapt”: Giovanna Ceolini, president of Confindustria Moda Accessori, summarises the final figures for 2025 and those for the first part of 2026 in this way.
The federation serves as a good barometer of the entire Italian TMA (textiles, fashion and accessories) sector, as it brings together the associations representing the key segments of the Italian leather supply chain: footwear (Assocalzaturifici), leather goods (Assopellettieri), leather clothing and furs (AIP), and tanning (Unic).
In 2025, the Fashion Accessories sector generated a total turnover of 29.1 billion, whilst exports, 24.2 billion, fell by 2.9 per cent compared with the previous year, whilst imports rose by 2 per cent, reaching 11.5 billion. The figures confirm the central role of international trade for the sector and its strong focus on exports, in a global context that remains challenging but in which certain signs of stability are beginning to emerge.
Turning back to exports, in the first five months of 2026, Italia exported goods from this sector worth 9.9 billion, and in this context, the European Union showed a positive trend, with export flows rising by 1.3 per cent: particularly significant were the results from France (+4.3 per cent), which remains the main destination market, Spain (+7.4 per cent) and the Netherlands (+10.6 per cent).
Turning to non-EU markets, the United States – which accounts for 12 per cent of the sector’s exports – showed considerable resilience, with only a slight decline of 1.1 per cent. The picture for Asian markets is more mixed, with a fall in exports to Japan (-9.9 per cent), South Korea (-4.6 per cent) and China (-2.5 per cent), whilst exports to Hong Kong rose by 8.1 per cent. Unsurprisingly, the decline in exports to the Middle East (-41.3%) was particularly significant, with the United Arab Emirates down 41.5 per cent – a trend influenced by the escalating geopolitical tensions in the region.
