The fashion business is recovering from the pandemic and is once again positioning itself as one of the main engines of the Spanish economy. In 2022, the relative contribution of the fashion business in Spain to the country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) rose to 2,8%, compared to the 2,7% it had registered in fiscal year 2021 and 2,4%. % to which it fell in 2020. The increases in the activity of the textile, clothing and footwear industry and in the fashion trade caused this rise.
The recovery of the relative weight of fashion in national income occurred despite the good general performance of the Spanish economy, which closed 2022 with a 5,8% increase in GDP. On the contrary, in a context of job creation and increased exports, fashion lost weight in the Spanish labor market and in exports.
El Economic Report on Fashion in Spain, powered by fashions with the collaboration of the Textile and Clothing Information Center (Cityc) and the sponsorship of BigCommerce, publishes this year its twelfth edition, the tenth in which the contribution of the fashion business to the Spanish GDP is calculated.
The document, which each year collects the main economic data on the sector, uses a complete econometric formula to calculate this gross added value generated by all the activities of the fashion value chain in Spain, from design and production. industry to distribution.
The calculation of the weight of fashion in Spain on GDP reflects how, in terms of gross added value, fashion has recovered quickly after the hit of Covid-19. In 2019, the weight of fashion in GDP stood at 2,8%, and fell abruptly to 2,4% in 2020 due to the impact of the pandemic on the activity of the sector.
In terms of job creation, on the other hand, fashion not only maintained, but moderately increased its weight on the Spanish labor market in 2020, with a contribution of 4,1%, compared to the 4,0% registered in 2019.
With the recovery of the Spanish economy and the creation of jobs in other sectors, the contribution to the labor market moderated to 3,9% in 2021 and fell again to 3,8% in 2022.
The number of people enrolled in Social Security in the textile, clothing, leather and footwear sectors was 129.894 workers at the end of 2022, 1% less than a year ago.
For its part, the weight of Spanish fashion in exports fell to represent 8,1% of total sales of goods abroad in 2020, compared to 8,9% the previous year. Fashion exports abroad have not stopped increasing since then, although their weight in total sales of goods abroad has not recovered the levels of 2019 due to the greater export dynamism of other industries.
In 2022, fashion reached a historical record of foreign sales of 32.428 million euros, taking into account textiles, clothing, footwear, accessories, cosmetics, perfumery, watches and jewelry, among others. However, the weight of fashion in all Spanish exports of goods went from 8,5% in 2021 to 8,3% in 2022.
In the ranking of autonomous communities that contributed the most to the fashion industry, the Valencian Community, Catalonia, Galicia and Andalusia remained the four leaders in terms of employment and number of companies, followed by Castilla-La Mancha and the Community of Madrid. . In terms of fashion sales, Catalonia, the Valencian Community, Galicia, Madrid and Andalusia were proclaimed champions.
Ecommerce maintains positions
The report also delves into key areas for the fashion sector such as retail trade, prices or ecommerce, a channel that has become strategic for fashion. In 2022, online fashion sales in Spain did not maintain the dynamism of previous years, but they did not lose positions either.
The business volume of clothing sales in Spain via the Internet stood at 2022 million euros in 5.685, which represents an increase of 19 million euros compared to the previous year. On the other hand, the market share of the online channel in the total spending of residents in Spain stood at 21,1%, compared to 20,8% the previous year.
Iria P. Gestal, director of fashions, points out that “little by little, fashion is finding its place: that of a sector with giants admired around the world, with companies that innovate with new business models and that make their way in a field as complex as sustainability. ”.
Likewise, Marta Castells, director of Cityc, asks for help for the textile sector, since, given the battery of new regulations around sustainability that will come into force in the coming years, "it is necessary to achieve economic sustainability and for the market to be willing to continually bet on These products are greener, but also more expensive.”
Methodology
The report takes into account a broad conception of the fashion sector, covering everything from leading textiles and design to marketing through all distribution channels of clothing products, footwear, accessories, jewelry, perfumery and, in general, , all products for personal use that incorporate a fashion brand. The calculations take as a starting point the data obtained from a wide variety of statistical sources, mainly from the National Statistics Institute, Eurostat, Icex, the National Markets and Competition Commission, Social Security, the Ministry of Industry, Energy and Tourism or the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness, among others.
As in its previous editions, the Economic Report on Fashion in Spain carries out a broad x-ray of the sector based on the relevant statistical data available on the textile, clothing, leather and footwear industries, from employment to production or number of companies, the evolution of prices of fashion products, sales from traditional distribution channels or ecommerce. The yearbook also analyzes the progress of the fashion industry in the main autonomous communities of the country for this sector (Valencian Community, Catalonia, Galicia, Andalusia and the Community of Madrid and Castilla-La Mancha) in terms of employment, industrial turnover and companies.
You can access the full report through this LINK.