ATHENS – The Greek clothing and textiles industry is recovering strongly and gradually returning to normality since the second quarter of 2021, after a difficult 2020, Greek Fashion said on Monday.

In a report, Greek Fashion said that accumulated net profits of the 100 largest enterprises in the sector fell by 70% in 2020, with exporting companies recording the best results. Men’s clothing recorded the biggest decline in turnover last year, while underwear had the smallest decline and the sales of sports and casual clothing also declined.

An analysis of the balance sheets of 102 clothing enterprises showed that turnover fell by 20.8% to 592.1 million euros, with gross earnings at 215.3 million euros (down 25.7% compared with 2019) and profit margins at 36%. Accumulated net profits totaled 3.6 million euros, down 70% from 2019.

Turnover of enterprises with activities in the domestic market fell 24.7% to 430.5 million euros, gross earnings fell 29% to 177.5 million and net results showed a loss of 8.0 million euros, while exporting enterprises’ turnover fell 7.1% to 161.6 million euros in 2020, gross earnings fell 2.8% to 37.8 million euros and net profits soared 100% to 11.6 million euros.

In the January-September period this year, retail sales in the domestic market grew 24.7% and exports rose 19.2%, evidence that the industry was staging a strong recovery.