Editor’s Note
This article examines the Spanish jewelry and watch retail sector, which saw a 7% growth to €1.6 billion in 2022. While this follows a period of strong post-pandemic recovery, the analysis suggests current geopolitical uncertainty and gold price volatility may now be impacting the market’s trajectory.
Data from ICEX and companies in the sector suggest that the uncertainty generated by the geopolitical situation and gold price movements could be affecting the sector.
According to a DBK study, the retail market for jewelry and watches reached 1.6 billion euros in 2022, a 7% increase. After growing nearly 30% in 2021, a further growth in the retail market for jewelry and watch items was already expected for that year, albeit more moderate than the previous year. In terms of turnover, brands and companies in the sector closed 2024 with positive figures; but what happened with exports in 2023?
Last year, in exports from Spain, online fashion sales in 2022 plummeted by 24%, while jewelry experienced an increase of 23.9%. On the other hand, in October 2021, textile garments ranked first among the most exported fashion products, although it was jewelry that contributed most to improving the figures compared to the previous year, with 15.3%, as stated in the economic situation report prepared by IFEMA Madrid.
Meanwhile, Córdoba’s foreign trade experienced a recovery in June 2022, as, according to ICEX data, companies in the province sold products worth 989 million euros to other countries during the first four months; an amount representing an annual increase of 22%. Specifically, jewelry drove this growth with a 40% increase and sales of 25 million euros during the first four months. This is in addition to data extracted from ICEX for 2022, which shows how year after year exports increased in figures and resulted in a good export performance. In fact, from 2021 to 2022, Spain’s jewelry exports grew by 6%, and from 2017 to 2022 by 23.3%.
Furthermore, a Statista statistic shows the annual evolution of the number of companies dedicated to the manufacture of jewelry, costume jewelry, and similar items in Spain from 2008 to 2020. In the latter year, a total of 2,321 manufacturers of these items were recorded. The data states that the industry has experienced an approximate 20% decline in the number of companies dedicated to the sector since 2008. In turn, in Spain, there are 2,321 companies dedicated to the manufacture of jewelry items.
It is not good news for exports, as in fashion, they fell in 2023 for the first time in over ten years (excluding 2020) while jewelry was the division that most cut its foreign sales.
The fashion sector, including textiles, clothing, footwear, accessories, jewelry, and cosmetics, according to the grouping by ICEX Spain Exportación e Inversiones, closed 2023 with foreign sales worth 31,534.5 million euros, 3% less than the previous year, after eight consecutive months of decline. Since 2000, Spanish fashion exports have only decreased on three occasions: in 2003, with a 3% decline; in 2009, with a 3.3% drop; and in 2020 (the pandemic year), with an 18% reduction.
These data provided by ICEX paint a scenario of greater weakness for Spanish fashion in international markets. Moreover, within this segment grouped by ICEX, it turns out that the worst part is borne by the jewelry and watch sector (and clothing).
The absolute drop in jewelry and watch exports stood at 676 million euros between 2022 and 2023, with a decline in absolute terms of 24%, to 2,126 million euros.
The reason, or at least one of them, is more than evident. The geopolitical situation and the general slowdown in consumption have affected exports across all industries in our market, including jewelry and watches.
Globally, Spanish exports closed 2023 1.4% below 2022, again the first drop in the historical series since the pandemic. Specifically, Spain sold goods abroad worth 383,688 million euros during the past year.
Regardless of the data provided by ICEX, companies and brands in the sector convey, in part, the opposite through other data to which Contraste has had access. For example, Antonio Millán Gordillo, located in Córdoba, records growth every year. As communicated to us by the company:
In fact, in international sales, so far this year, Antonio Millán Gordillo has recorded 33.17% more compared to 2023. Regarding total sales, the company closed 2023 with 4.87% more compared to 2022, with 8,786,457.57 million euros.
For its part, Aguilar de Dios also provides Contraste with its turnover data which, compared to 2019, grew by 19% in 2020, by 15.8% in 2021, and by 28.65% in 2022. In 2023, they experience the first drop since 2019, of 18.40%, and so far in 2024, until March, a drop of 6%.