The markets of Austria and Germany are in crisis, and foreign sales made by the Montebelluna district lost 21.2% in the first quarter 2024. As a result, production slowed (-7.1%), along with the employment level (which was already down 170 people in 2023).
Data
The numbers provided by the Sportsystem Economic Observatory tell the story of a distressed context for the Montebelluna district. Negative numbers mitigated only by the positive performance of the past years and future prospects. The same observatory forecasts, for the period 2024-28, an average annual growth of 2.7% in exports of Italian manufacturing products. But in the meantime, the district struggles. 2023 had already closed with a minus sign for Treviso’s footwear exports: 1.17 billion euros, or -4.8% compared to 2022. But 2024 started even worse, with exports from the district (including footwear, boots and sporting goods, and bicycles, according to Intesa Sanpaolo) are down 17.6% compared to the same period of 2023. And sports footwear in particular recorded a heavy decline of 21.2%. A negative performance that analysts mainly attribute to the crisis within the German (-29%) and Austrian (-48%) markets, as reported by Nordest Economia.
The consequences
The observatory conducts the study in collaboration with Intesa Sanpaolo and the Chamber of Commerce of Treviso Belluno Dolomiti, based on data provided by Infocamere, Istat and Veneto Lavoro. For the fashion segment as a whole, the first quarter of 2024 recorded a -7.1% decline in production volume. Additionally, there are fears of consequences for employment levels, which already registered a loss during 2023: -170 people out of about 8,000 total employees. But there is good news: orders from abroad grew by 2% in the first quarter of 2024, compared to the fourth quarter of 2023.
