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Key textile and apparel markets: France |
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2004-7-5
The French economy displayed a timid recovery in Q1 with GDP growth of 0.8%. Even though growth was recently reported to have picked up more quickly than expected due to positive domestic demand, consumer and business confidence remains shaky. This was particularly felt within the French textile and apparel industries.
With the exception of the annual post-Christmas/New Year sales, which masked January''s true performance, Q1 2004 sales of textiles and apparel have seen a negligible rise in value in comparison to the first quarter of 2003. According to research by the Bank of France, consumers are not favourably disposed towards textiles and apparel purchases. They prefer to spend their cash on D-I-Y goods and electronics, which have seen increasing growth in the value of purchases Q1 2004, compared with Q1 2003.
The strong January sales at the start of the year were completely reversed by March and while they increased a little in April they were still down on the result for April the previous year. As a result the first quarter of 2004 has shown no progress in comparison to 2003.
Menswear consumption offers a relatively optimistic outlook for the first quarter of 2004 with a rise in value for ready-to-wear and accessories in comparison to 2003, however this is countered by a negative outlook for womenswear where the ready-to-wear sector has suffered a reduction for the same period. Replicating the same despondent trend, childrenswear sales have also seen a fall in value.
© The Woolmark Company 2004
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