MILAN (AP) — Global sales of personal luxury goods are “slowing down but not collapsing,” according to a Bain & Co. consultancy study.

Personal luxury goods sales that eroded to $419 billion in 2024 are projected to slide by another 2 percent to 5 percent this year, the study said, citing threats of U.S. tariffs and geopolitical tensions triggering economic slowdowns.

“Still, to be positive in a difficult moment — with three wars, economies slowing down, inequality at a maximum ever — it’s not a market in collapse,’’ said Bain partner and co-author of the study Claudia D’Arpizio. “It is slowing down but not collapsing.”

Alongside external headwinds, luxury brands have alienated consumers with an ongoing creativity crisis and sharp price increases, Bain said. Buyers also have been turned off by recent investigations in Italy that revealed sweatshop conditions in subcontractors making luxury handbags.

Sales are slipping sharply in powerhouse markets the United States and China, the study showed. In the United States, market volatility due to tariffs has discouraged consumer confidence. China has recorded six quarters of contraction on low consumer confidence.

The Middle East, Latin America and Southeast Asia are recording growth. Europe is mostly flat, the study showed.

This has created a sharp divergence between brands that continue with strong creative and earnings growth, such as the Prada Group, which posted a 13 percent first-quarter jump in revenue to $1.49 billion, and brands such as Gucci, at which revenue was down 24 percent to $1.83 billion in the same period.

Brands also are making changes to minimize the impact of possible U.S. tariffs. These include shipping directly from production sites and not warehouses and reducing stock in stores.

Still, many of the headwinds buffering the sector are out of companies’ control.

“Many of these (negative) aspects are not going to change soon. What can change is more clarity on the tariffs, but I don’t think we will stop the wars or the political instability in a few months,’’ she said, adding that luxury consumer confidence is tied more closely to stock market trends than geopolitics.

While luxury spending is sensitive to global turmoil, it is historically quick to rebound, powered by new markets and pent-up demand.

The 2008-2009 financial crisis plummeted sales of luxury apparel, handbags and footwear from $184.7 billion to $168.6 billion over two years. The market more than recovered the losses in 2010 as it rebounded by 14 percent. Similarly, after sales plunged by 21 percent during the pandemic, pent-up spending powered sales to new records.