The Italian footwear industry reported another quarter of increased sales despite a slowdown in export volume and production, according to the latest data from Confindustria Moda Research Centre for Assocalzaturifici, the national association representing Italian shoemakers.

In the first quarter of 2023, the country’s shoe sector saw a 13.6 percent increase in sales compared to the same period last year, as well as a 16.1 percent increase in total value of footwear exports, the report said.

Giovanna Ceolini, chair of Assocalzaturifici, added in the report that all the top 20 international destinations for Italian footwear – with the sole exception of Switzerland, which was down 7.8 percent – saw increases in export value that were “almost always” in double-digit territory.

But as sales and export value rise, production and export volume have fallen across the Italian footwear industry. Specifically, the report noted that the number of shoes being exported to North America in the first quarter slowed down noticeably by 19.4 percent. Decreases in exports were also seen in Germany (down 8.8 percent), the United Kingdom (down 10.1 percent) and Switzerland (down 24.8 percent).

But the report did see a “strong recovery” in Russia and Ukraine, after sales plummeted last March following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and noted a continued recovery in Italy’s domestic market, up 8.2 percent in household purchases in the quarter.

However, there is still cause for concern, the report highlighted. The Confindustria Moda Research Centre said there are “several signs” of a slowdown in growth, which was expected given the V-shaped recovery in 2021 and 2022. These signs include an overall export volume decrease of 2 percent and a 1 percent decline in production.

“The survey revealed that high prices for energy and raw materials are currently the biggest problem for footwear companies, due to their impact on balance sheets,” Ceolini said in a statement. The chair also noted that the survey found that more banks are tightening their credit, and 84 percent of entrepreneurs identified the difficulties of finding skilled labor as a “significant problem” for their business.

By product category, the report also showed that leather shoe uppers – the leading segment, which accounts for 63 percent of the value of exports – is the only one to have increased in the first quarter both in value terms (slightly above the average, up 18.6 percent) and volume (up 1.4 percent) compared to the same period in 2022. However, export volume of leather uppers are down 16.6 percent compared to 2019.

Among other segment’s items, there was a significant reduction for children’s leather footwear (down 12 percent in volume). Conversely, there was a 4.7 percent increase in total volume of men’s exports and a 1.5 percent include in volume in women’s shoe exports, with 2.2 percent and 4.2 percent increases for walking shoes and sandals, respectively ,and a 24.5 percent reduction for boots/ankle boots.q at

This latest data comes after the Confindustria Moda Research Centre for Assocalzaturifici reported that the final balance of exports in 2022 were up 23 percent over 2021 at 12.65 billion euros ($13.89 billion, based on current exchange).