Editor’s Note
Provisional data indicates robust growth for the Iberian jewelry and watch sector, with turnover rising 10.5% to €2.1 billion. Retail sales in Spain and Portugal also saw a significant increase of 8.6% in 2023.
The jewelry and watch sector in the Iberian Peninsula has increased its turnover by 10.5%, reaching 2.1 billion euros, according to provisional data provided by the DBK Sectoral Observatory.
In 2023, retail sales for the sector in Spain and Portugal reached approximately 1.9 billion euros, an increase of 8.6% compared to 2022.
Spanish chains have captured the majority of the business, showing a progressive increase in their market share. Meanwhile, sales from independent commerce reached 370 million euros, accounting for 19.4% of the total.
Large retail surfaces and other channels accounted for 20.9% of total sales.
By product, jewelry and costume jewelry items accounted for 55% of total sales, while watch products recorded a 10% share.
At the end of 2023, there were approximately 8,800 points of sale operating in Spain, specialized in jewelry and watch items.
This figure, however, maintains a downward trend due to the low activity of small independent businesses. Currently, the offering of specialized physical points of sale is complemented by the growth in the number of specialized stores in the online channel.
Specialized physical points of sale have captured the majority of the business.
Retail trade recorded an average sales increase of 2.1% in 2024, thus marking its fourth consecutive year of growth after the black year that 2020 represented for the sector due to the pandemic, as reported last week by the National Statistics Institute (INE).
Eliminating seasonal and calendar effects, retail trade turnover increased by 1.7% in 2024. In the last month of 2024, retail sales recorded a year-on-year advance of 3.5%, a rate 1.7 points higher than the previous month. With this year-on-year rebound, retail trade turnover has chained six consecutive months of increases.
In monthly terms (December 2024 over November of the same year) and eliminating the seasonal and calendar effect, retail sales surged by 1.5%, their largest monthly advance since November 2023, when they rebounded by 1.9%.