Footwear still largest consumer of Italian leather

The performance of Italian leather manufacturers in 2020 has been highlighted in a new report published by the national tanning industry association UNIC. This document reveals that during the covid-affected year, tanneries in Italy manufactured 97.3 million square metres of finished leather available to be used for uppers. This represents a 16.4 per cent decrease compared to the figure for 2019. A 36.1 per cent share of the total production – approximately 35 million square metres – was used by shoemakers. Footwear therefore remains the biggest consumer of finished Italian leather, despite the fact that in 2020, manufacturers around the world are reported to have used 20 per cent less Italian leather than they had during the previous year.

The second-biggest market for Italian leather was producers of handbags and other accessories. These companies took 25.5 million square metres, some 26.2 per cent of the total, which also represented a reduction of around 20 per cent year-on-year. Automotive interiors accounted for 15.7 per cent of the total Italian leather made, totalling just over 15 million square metres – a drop of 14.5 per cent over the previous year’s total. The proportion of leather used in furniture stayed at the 2019 figure of 15.7 per cent of the production total, consuming 15 million square metres. Unlike the other sectors, demand for furniture leather grew – although by only 0.2 per cent. Just under 4 per cent of the Italian tanneries’ output in 2020 was consumed by makers of clothing and gloves. This called for 3.75 million square metres, a decline of 21 per cent. According to UNIC, the remaining production was absorbed by ‘other market segments’.

Publishing Data

This article was originally published on page 2 of the October 2021 issue of SATRA Bulletin.

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