Portugal has been ranked in the top 20 of the world’s largest footwear producers in a sector that is dominated by Asia.

According to the latest edition of the World Footwear Yearbook, prepared by the Portuguese Association of Footwear, Components and Leather Goods (APICCAPS), Portugal regained a place and assumed in 2019 the 20th position in the ‘top’ 20 of the largest world producers in the sector. The group only includes two other countries in Europe with Italy in 10th position and Spain in 17th.

“Production continues to be mainly concentrated in Asia, where nine out of 10 pairs of shoes are produced. In the past 10 years, the Asian continent has slightly strengthened its dominance on the international scene, increasing its world production by two percentage points, ”says APICCAPS.

In the last ten years, world production in this sector grew by 21.2%. Global exports increased by 10.6% in volume and 59.1% in value.

“This growth was mainly driven by Asian countries, which increased their exports by 2.8 percent,” APICCAPS noted, adding that, “in Europe, the growth rate was 1.2 percent”.

However, this new record of 24.3 billion pairs in 2019 is expected to “last for a few years” because of the pandemic.

With regards to Portugal, the footwear industry produced 76 million pairs of shoes in 2019. This number places the country again in the ranking of the 20 largest world producers. It came in 19th place in the chart of the largest exporters in volume. Germany, France and the United Kingdom are the largest footwear consumers in the world. China leads the table, followed by India and the USA.

The Clothing and the Footwear industry are two of Portugal’s key sectors. Along with Jewellery, these 3 Portuguese industries represent more than EUR 5 billion in exports.

Source : THE PORTUGAL NEWS, JORNAL ECONÓMICO, N-INVEST