Europe and the US drive luxury goods over 300 billion in 2022

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Mature markets are supporting the growth in sales of luxury goods in an economic and geopolitical context marked by uncertainty. In fact, in the first quarter of 2022, personal luxury goods recorded a + 17-19% (+ 13-15% at constant exchange rates) compared to the first quarter of 2022. Despite the challenges (from energy costs to inflation) and the unknowns , the current year will close with a growth of the luxury goods market between 5 and 15 percent. In any case, the threshold of 300 billion euros will be exceeded. The data emerge from the update of the Altagamma Bain Monitor on the world markets of luxury goods and the Altagamma Consensus 2022, presented yesterday in Milan.

«The data for the first quarter are encouraging – says Matteo Lunelli, president of Altagamma – but the supply difficulties, instability, inflation and war represent clouds on the horizon. The trend of the US market and the faster-than-expected European recovery will be the driving force and the average profitability of companies in the sector will rise by 9 percent “

Europe recovers one year early

The Old Continent records the best performance: the Altagamma Consensus has revised upwards the estimates of the sales trend in Europe which should register + 12% during the year, beating the USA and the Middle East (both at + 10% ). The area – which for many years was considered by luxury brands as a destination for wealthy non-European tourists – will return to pre-Covid levels a year in advance and will do so thanks to a local clientele that the bands have started to “pamper” again during the pandemic, in the absence of tourists, and has resumed buying and traveling to sanction the “return to life” post Covid, compensating for the lack of tourists from Asia. “The unknowns remain – explains Claudia D’Arpizio, partner of Bain & Co and head of the report – but the philosophy of consumers seems to be that of ‘you only live once'”.

The Russians in Dubai are boosting sales in the Middle East

Specifically, the war in Ukraine had a more reduced impact than expected on both business and consumer confidence: “The lost sales to Russians as a result of the sanctions can be quantified at around 7 billion – between domestic consumption and tourism – for personal goods and 13 for travel and experiences. While we have not found any effects on consumers, ”says D’Arpizio. In fact, many super-rich Russians, even before the war, had moved their domicile and above all capital to Dubai: it is also thanks to their contribution that sales in the Middle East will grow by 10 percent.

USA, inclusive strategies attract new consumers

Also in the US, according to estimates, luxury goods will record a 10% increase in sales over the course of 2022. They will do so thanks to the new consumer groups that are emerging far from the big cities, in areas such as the Midwest. The strategies of the brands in support of inclusiveness and diversity have made their way into the hearts of African American and Asian-American communities: consumers who until now had remained off the radar of the altagamma. On the horizon remain the unknowns linked to the arrival of the recessionary cycle in the USA and Europe.