Spanish market could break €9bn next year, says Afydad

Retail revenues (sell-out) for the Spanish sporting goods industry continued its march toward the €9 billion mark in 2022, reaching €8.993 billion through year-on-year growth of 4.6 percent. Things have, however, slowed down since the boom year of 2021, which offered more than twice the growth (11.1%). Last year’s wholesale revenues (sell-in), meanwhile, amounted to €5.153 billion, up by 4.12 percent.

So said Jaume Ferrer at the latest general assembly of the Spanish Association of Sporting Goods Manufacturers and Distributors (Afydad), as reported by TradeSport and CMDsport. Ferrer was laying out the results of a study on the national industry conducted on Afydad’s behalf by his consultancy, SportPanel-Interempresas.

Spain’s balance of trade in sporting goods remained negative, with imports exceeding exports. That said, exports were up year-on-year by 28.6 percent, reaching €1.761 billion. Imports rose at a slower rate, 10.5 percent, to €2.770 billion.

The top segment remained bicycles, which accounted for €2.714 billion, or 30.18 percent of total sales – this despite a decline of 6 percent year-on-year.

By items sold the top segments were footwear (42.9%) and textiles (40.7%), followed by accessories (7.0%); hard goods for hunting, fishing, cycling and outdoor (5.8%); racquets (1.8%); hardgoods for skiing (1.0%); and balls (0.9%).

The number of sporting-goods companies in Spain increased by 77 to 980. About 48 percent of them were national manufacturers, about 44 percent were international brands, and about 8 percent of the national producers did at least some business in imports. Barcelona remained the richest region in sporting-goods companies, with nearly 29 percent of the total, and the broader region of Catalonia engaged in the most trade, with 706 million exports and 959 million imports.

There was a small year-on-year decline in the number of stores, pandemic-related measures having led to the closure of 237 in 2021. At the end of 2022, there were 8,719 stores in operation. About 59 percent were independent, with groups operating another 20 percent and chains operating about 17 percent. Single-brand stores – on the rise in tandem with DTC sales – came in at just under 4 percent.

The average margin per sale had been falling every year from 2014 to 2021, when, at last, it rose by 1.69 percentage points. In 2022 it increased again to 37.10 percent. This amounts to a 4.5-point increase over the past two years.

Spending per inhabitant on sporting goods reached €188.8, a 65 percent increase over the figure from a decade earlier. Spending per household was €470.5, or 59 percent more than in 2012. About six in ten Spaniards over the age of 15 (57.3%) took part in some form of sport over the course of 2022. This was 2.3 percentage points down from the particularly sporty year of 2020 (59.6%) but up 3.8 points from 2015.

Overall, then, the Spanish sporting goods industry performed well, despite problems along the supply chain and concomitant shortfalls in inventory. As distribution has settled back into normal operation, however, shortages have since become gluts in segments like bicycles and pádel racquets. But Ferrer remains sanguine.

“We must take advantage of the present moment, which is one of the best eras of the past two decades, with a strong and consolidated market for athletics and sports fashion taking over on the streets,” he said. “Despite the difficulties of excess stock in brand warehouses, 2023 will be another good year for sport.”

“If the forecasts are correct,” he believes, “the year will end above €9 billion.”