Ten years after the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy acted as the starting gun for the global recession, economists are now wondering if the world is ready to avoid a new collapse. The answer, as put by the IMF’s chief economist, is not comforting.

The peak of populist movements, with protectionism as a rising trend, threatened to stop both the global commerce and the economy. According to experts, the worst background would be stagflation (inflation but with economic stagnation) or, in the words of IMF chief economist, a “poorer and more dangerous” world. 

Australia, which produces 88% of the wool consumed by the fashion industry, is suffering the consequences of an unprecedent drought that is severely affecting pastures.

Eight out of ten countries in the ranking elaborated by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) are European, except Singapore and New Zealand.

The French market, destiny of 12% of Spanish garment articles, clothing items, footwear and complements exports, could slow down its growth rate if the protests that have taken place during these weeks persist or expand.

All markets within the continent have their own particularities: from Canada, where online e-commerce is based on imports, to Mexico, where challenges like credit cards use or logistics are starting to being solved.

There is a great distance between the United Kingdom, where 78% of the total population purchases online, and Bulgaria or Romania, for instance, where the percentage stands only at 11%

 The sector is in that way recovered from September’s figures, when sales dropped 7.2% according to Eurostat. In spite of that, it is still the sector that has grown less in the whole Eurozone.

The sector will obtain a revenue of 517 billion euros in 2021, according to the last report carried out by consultant EY The Luxury and Cosmetics Financial Factbook.

Buying tickets online, booking a hotel room or renting a car on the internet will be free of geographical restrictions around the whole European Union. 

Fashion industry’s growth will reduce between 3.5% and 4.5% during the next years in all markets but the Asiatic one, which will continue to grow.