According to a recent study by Assosport, Italy’s sporting goods industry is worth €13 billion, a 15 percent increase from 2020. Growth has been driven by the resuming of activities after Covid-19, combined with the pandemic itself, which has, in fact, pushed many consumers to outdoor as well as at-home activities they had not necessarily engaged in before. The year 2021 has been marked by a boom in outdoor activities, which has continued into 2022. The year 2022 has been characterized, in turn, by the consolidation of padel, which has recorded a 500 percent growth from 2019, evolving into a sort of cultural phenomenon. Swimming pools and gyms, which had gone through a rough patch in 2020 and 2021, started recovering in 2022, slowly by steadily, said Assosport.
Exports of sporting goods, which also slowed down during the pandemic, grew by 18.5 percent in 2021 as compared to 2020. The main market for Italian sporting goods is still the U.S., followed by France, Germany, Switzerland and Spain.
Assosport, the Italian sporting goods industry association, represents and supports more than 130 companies and 300 brands in Italy. The results of the study were presented at the latest general assembly of the association, which was held in Verona on Jan. 26. Anna Ferrino, elected in October 2020 as the first female president of the association, was reconfirmed for another two years at the helm of the organization.
