LVMH Is Exporting More Designer Goods Than France Is Wine
The luxury conglomerate made up 4% of France’s exports in 2023, while the country’s agricultural sector was responsible for 3.2%.
LVMH’s global sales of handbags and perfumes surpassed those of wine in France’s agricultural sector last year, according to a new report by consultancy Asterès for LVMH released via the Financial Times.
The gargantuan luxury conglomerate, which oversees industry-leading brands including Louis Vuitton, Dior, Celine and LOEWE, composed 4% of France’s exports in 2023, while the country’s international Camembert and wine sales made up just 3.2%. As the luxury sector remains vital to France’s economy, LVMH alone exported designer goods valued at a total of €23.5 billion EUR across the year.
Last week, the company reported that Asia was behind just below 40% of those sales, and the U.S. was responsible for 25%. France composed less than 10% of LVMH’s global sales, per the report.
“Our performance in 2023 illustrates the exceptional appeal of our Maisons and their ability to spark desire, despite a year affected by economic and geopolitical challenges,” LVMH chairman and CEO Bernard Arnault said in a statement earlier this year. He later added, “We achieved pretty sustained growth in Europe, in Japan and the rest of Asia last year, but a bit less strong in the US due to the economic situation, which is in the process of inverting now.”
LVMH looks to continue its prosperous contributions to France’s economy, as the company shakes up its executive leadership. Last week, Arnault welcomed two more of his children — 29-year-old Frédéric and 31-year-old Alexandre — to the conglomerate’s board of directors. Four of Arnault’s five children are presently on the board, protecting the family’s reign over the country’s largest luxury group. Arnault’s youngest child, Jean, currently holds an operational job at the company.
