General economic situation and industry development

The general economic situation and industry-specific environment proved challenging for the HUGO BOSS Group last year. The global economy failed to achieve the significant recovery that had originally been assumed, and with growth of 3.3% lagged expectations according to the IMF. Growth varied from region to region, with emerging markets tending to be weaker than the industrialized nations. Against the background of a persistently weak economic environment and resulting cautious consumer spending, growth in the premium and luxury goods sector was unable to gain momentum, and at 5% was slightly below the previous year’s level. All regions contributed to this industry growth.