The II Economic Survey on The Italian Jewelry Sector

Yesterday afternoon, the Main Stage in Hall 7 saw the presentation of the second economic survey on the Italian gold and jewelry industry, which complements and supplements the quantitative results on the sector with an updated view of operator sentiment. The survey shows extremely positive results for 2022 with more than half of the operators forecasting a growth in turnover, also confirmed by the change in the ISTAT turnover index, which, in the first half of 2022, stood at +32%, better than the fashion sector and the Italian manufacturing average. At the beginning of September, compared to previous editions, there was an inevitable downward turn of expectations, conditioned by the ongoing Russian-Ukrainian conflict and tension regarding the price of raw materials, which, in any case, only affected smaller operators. Larger companies confirmed resilience for the current year with 70 per cent of survey participants reporting a growth in turnover. To support growth, all size classes confirmed the importance of international markets with excellent results in terms of exports in the first five months of 2022, which showed a increase of 41% in value and 15% in quantity. The sector has managed to consolidate its position towards its main commercial competitors. In particular, it has gained positions in the United States where it represented the second partner with a 12.7% share in the first part of 2022. In a framework that remains complex and uncertain, the main concern for operators, in addition to the difficulties in managing raw material prices, is labor procurement, which was mentioned by 80% of the largest companies. The focus on transport costs is growing among smaller companies. «Such a positive result has not been seen for at least ten years,» says Augusto Ungarelli, former President of Club degli Orafi Italia. «Leadership, both at the production level, due to the export figures and balance of payments, and in terms of job opportunities, an extremely critical point today due to the difficulty of finding skilled labor. Indeed, it is estimated that, over the next five years in Italy, the sector will need more than 6000 workers.» Giorgio Villa, President of Club degli Orafi Italia, adds: «Let's not forget that recent years have seen a huge increase in quality at the technological, production, creative and finishing levels, so these numbers are worth double. In a scenario like the one we are currently experiencing, between inflation, the Russian-Ukrainian conflict and the energy crisis, the entrepreneur has to pull out all the stops, and I am very confident on this front. In regard to fluctuations in the price of gold, I don't think that this disturbs the sector too much because the value of a piece of jewelry is linked more to its creative and design aspect, regardless of the price of the metal, especially considering that the market is moving increasingly more towards brand consolidation rather than towards unbranded.»