Madrid (EFE).- Sales of clothing, footwear and accessories in Spain in 2022 amounted to 10,658 million euros, 19.73% more than the previous year but still almost 8,000 million below the pre-pandemic figures (41 % less), according to the report presented this Wednesday by the employers’ association of the textile sector, Acotex.
More clothes are sold than in 2021, but much less than the year before the coronavirus pandemic. In fact, in 2019, clothing sales totaled 18,078 million, a figure and sales levels that, according to Acotex, “at some point they will recover, but it is not known when”.
The president of the employers’ association, Eduardo Zamácola, has commented in this sense that “there is enough left” to recover the figures for 2019, although he has been confident that before sales, profitability will recover in companies in the sector.
Last year, the average expense per person on clothing and accessories was 298.80 euros, 16.35% more than in 2021; while families spent an average of 879 euros, 11.83% more (in 2019, 1,256 euros).
By commercial formats, chains remained at the forefront of global turnover in 2022 with 38.95%, followed by hypermarkets (27.6%), “outlets” (15.4%) and department stores ( 8.4%), while multi-brand stores lost “slightly” market share (9.7%).
In the electronic channel it represented 16.2% of textile trade in 2022, slightly above the data of the previous year, while employment rebounded by 1%, with 165,423 workers.
Warning signs for 2023
The data between January and May of this year show an increase in sales of 3.8% compared to the same period in 2022.
The data provided by Acotex was weighed down by the 5.7% drop in May, which was the first year-on-year drop of the year and, according to the president of the employers’ association, Eduardo Zamácola, “this is the first alarm signal”.
For Zamácola, behind this decline in sales in May are the weather (unusual heat and storms), the rise in interest rates and, therefore, in mortgages; the withdrawal of aid for automotive fuels and high inflation.
“It is observed that the consumer is once again showing reluctance when buying clothes,” said the president of Acotex, who has warned of a “certain suspicion and uncertainty” in the sector by the end of the year “and with elections in July ”.
In general, Zamácola has insisted that the sector is still “very far” from the pre-pandemic figures and has specified that it does not have positive forecasts for the whole of this year.
However, the manager has underlined the rebound in tourism and its relationship with the purchase of fashion items, which in 2022 accounted for 65% of his purchases on visits to Spain.
Setback in points of sale
The fashion sector experienced a setback last year in terms of the number of stores open, with 1.55% less than in 2021 (94 closures), up to 43,978 points of sale.
The data represents the third consecutive year-on-year decline in points of sale open to the public, from 61,891 in 2019 (17,913 fewer stores).
Zamácola has opined, however, that many chains and brands have regrouped their commercial offer to offer their products in a smaller number of stores but larger in useful area.
Madrid, Catalonia and Andalusia, leaders
Madrid, Catalonia and Andalusia were, in that order, the autonomous communities with the highest billing share, with 17.4%, 16.9% and 15.32%, respectively.
In terms of per inhabitant expenditure on textiles, the Basque Country is in the lead with an average outlay in 2022 of 399.62 euros, followed by Madrid (363.68 euros) and Cantabria (354.74 euros), while in the On the opposite side were the Balearic Islands (215.38 euros) and the Canary Islands (229.97 euros).
In the shopping cart, the hegemony corresponded last year to food products and non-alcoholic beverages (19.6% of turnover), followed by transportation (13.8%), while fashion maintained its year-on-year decrease and accounted for only 3.9%, far from the 12% it had in 2016.