The Spanish leather industry faced a difficult year in 2024, marked by a significant decline in exports and a drop in demand from key markets, including Italy. The sector’s struggles were evident across all segments raw hides, semi-finished leather, and finished leather leading to an overall negative balance for the year.
According to data from the Directorate General of Customs, Spain’s leather exports took a substantial hit in 2024. All three major categories raw hides, semi-finished leather, and finished leather saw negative year-over-year changes:
- Raw hides exports fell by 6.5%, to a €8.2 million loss.
- Semi-finished leather exports suffered the biggest decline, plummeting 31.7%, leading to a €24.5 million reduction.
- Finished leather exports dropped by 7.1%, amounting to a €30.4 million decrease.
The decline wasn’t limited to exports Spain’s leather imports also showed mixed results. While imports of finished leather slightly increased by 2.3% (€6 million gain), other segments recorded sharp declines:
- Raw hides imports dropped 27.4%, equating to a €19.1 million loss.
- Semi-finished leather imports fell by 24.3%, with a €30.6 million decrease.
Italy remained Spain’s largest market for leather exports in 2024, but the demand from the Italian market weakened significantly.
Spain exported nearly €188 million worth of leather to Italy in 2024, down from €231 million in 2023, reflecting an 18.7% decline.
In contrast, Italy’s leather exports to Spain saw a modest increase. Spain’s purchases of Italian leather grew from €208 million in 2023 to nearly €212 million in 2024, marking a 1.7% rise.
Despite the industry’s challenges, employment in Spain’s footwear and leather goods sector showed signs of recovery.
February 2025 marked the sixth consecutive month of job growth in the sector. However, the total number of employees 39,019 as of February 2025 remains lower than pre-pandemic levels. Compared to the previous year, the industry has 2,000 fewer workers, and nearly 7,000 jobs have been lost since 2019.
Source – Laconceria.it
