Footwear Production Statistics
Footwear Production Statistics
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The global movement of footwear production
The global movement of footwear production
The changing face of international shoemaking since the mid s.
by Stuart Morgan
Image © Ratz Attila | Dreamstime
Statistics for footwear production around the world in recent decades show distinct shifts from &#;traditional&#; shoemaking regions to factories in new or developing areas. In some cases, such relocations are as a result of political change; but generally they seem to follow an economic drive to cut production costs by using a lower-paid work force.
In the tables included in this article, we highlight change in the location of footwear production between and &#; a period of 35 years. In , the then-existing USSR was by far the highest producer in the world, manufacturing just over one billion pairs of footwear during the year. China was in second place on 760 million pairs, followed by the USA. Italy had long been a force in European footwear production and produced 348 million pairs during the year. Interestingly, at this time the UK still produced sufficient footwear to take the final place in the table, but factory closures quickly pushed it out of the list of the world&#;s most prolific producers.
The USA
Even in , the USA&#;s demise as a major footwear producer was evident. Although still in the top three producing nations by , output had fallen by 13.2 per cent over the preceding five years. By , a further 31.1 per cent drop meant that the USA was down to ninth place in the world&#;s footwear producers. In , the country&#;s footwear manufacturers made 293 million pairs &#; almost half the number produced just a decade before. Five years later, there was an apparent resurgence, with the USA rising to seventh in the table. However, this was only as a result of a group of footwear-producing nations pulling away from the rest of the pack and leaving the others &#; including the USA &#; trailing behind. By this time, USA shoemaking had declined by another 22.5 per cent over . Finally, by , the country had slipped from the top ten producers&#; list and has not been able to regain a place there since that time.
Top ten footwear producers in
12
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10 USSR 1,058 million pairs
China 760 million pairs
USA 567 million pairs
Italy 348 million pairs
India 340 million pairs
Taiwan 262 million pairs
Japan 227 million pairs
France 226 million pairs
Spain 205 million pairs
UK 164 million pairs 1,058 million pairs
760 million pairs
567 million pairs
348 million pairs
340 million pairs
262 million pairs
227 million pairs
226 million pairs
205 million pairs
164 million pairs
Top ten footwear producers in
12
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10 USSR
China
USA
Japan
Italy
Brazil
Taiwan
India
S Korea
France 1,151 million pairs
895 million pairs
492 million pairs
485 million pairs
429 million pairs
425 million pairs
389 million pairs
346 million pairs
283 million pairs
206 million pairs (+8.8 per cent over )
(+13.8 per cent over )
(-13.2 per cent over )
(+113.7 per cent over )
(+23.3 per cent over )
(new entry)
(+48.5 per cent over )
(+1.8 per cent over )
(new entry)
(-8.8 per cent over )
Chinese dominance
Impressive increases in footwear production saw China climb to the top of the table by &#; a position it has held ever since, with no realistic sign that it will lose this spot in the foreseeable future. A boost in Chinese manufacturing was particularly seen during the s, with a 71.2 per cent boost in footwear production between and , followed by an incredible 76.2 per cent rise over the following five years. Such annual increases were unsustainable, however, and while each year the Chinese achievement was still envied by other nations, the rise in production gradually slowed, until by &#; the last year considered in this article &#; China&#;s footwear production was &#;only&#; 19.3 per cent when compared with the turn of the new century. Nevertheless, by this time, Chinese footwear producers were making an incredible 10,734 million pairs per year &#; more than five times that of its nearest competitor nation, India.
China has been the most prolific producer of footwear since the mid-s
Emerging producers
A number of footwear manufacturing nations have worked their way into the top ten list since . Brazilian shoemakers, for example, made 425 million pairs in , gaining sixth place for the year &#; just below the established Italian companies&#; total figure. After that, Brazil slowly clawed up the table, achieving second place behind China in . Although overtaken by India at the start of the new millennium, Brazilian production kept the country in third place in .
Top ten footwear producers in
12
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10 China
USSR
Taiwan
Brazil
Italy
Japan
India
S Korea
USA
Spain 1,532 million pairs
1,004 million pairs
662 million pairs
540 million pairs
525 million pairs
468 million pairs
350 million pairs
342 million pairs
339 million pairs
205 million pairs (+71.2 per cent over )
(-12.8 per cent over )
(+70.2 per cent over )
(+27.1 per cent over )
(+22.4 per cent over )
(-3.5 per cent over )
(+1.2 per cent over )
(+20.8 per cent over )
(-31.1 per cent over )
(new entryTop
Top ten footwear producers in
12
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10 China
CIS*
S Korea
Brazil
Italy
Taiwan
Japan
Thailand
USA
India 2,700 million pairs
820 million pairs
535 million pairs
502 million pairs
425 million pairs
417 million pairs
350 million pairs
306 million pairs
293 million pairs
230 million pairs (+76.2 per cent over )
(-18.3 per cent over )
(+56.4 per cent over )
(-7.1 per cent over )
(-19.0 per cent over )
(-37.0 per cent over )
(-25.2 per cent over )
(new entry)
(-13.6 per cent over )
(-34.2 per cent over ) *The Commonwealth of Independent States &#; comprising nine of the 15 former Soviet republics &#; compared to figures for the USSR.
Another new entrant on the international shoemaking scene in was South Korea. By , its footwear producers were making 535 million pairs. However, things changed rapidly, with national production reporting a dramatic 34.6 per cent drop between and . Like the USA, by , South Korea had slipped from the top ten. Four other countries that are today regarded as major footwear producers gained a foothold in the top ten list for &#; Vietnam, Mexico, Pakistan and Turkey.
Increasing market share
While global output of footwear in the s from all producing nations around the world &#; large and small &#; could only be a close estimate, the total figure of 6,500 million pairs in was certainly a reasonable one. In that year, 34.5 per cent of output came from Asia, 25.7 per cent from Eastern Europe, 18.2 per cent from Western Europe, 18.1 per cent from North and South America and 2.8 per cent from Africa.
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Top ten footwear producers in
12
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10 China
Brazil
Italy
India
Thailand
Indonesia
USA
Japan
Spain
S Korea 4,270 million pairs
500 million pairs
476 million pairs
462 million pairs
410 million pairs
371 million pairs
227 million pairs
204 million pairs
187 million pairs
185 million pairs (+58.1 per cent over )
(-0.4 per cent over )
(+12.0 per cent over )
(+100.9 per cent over )
(+34.0 per cent over )
(new entry)
(-22.5 per cent over )
(-41.7 per cent over )
(re-entry)
(-65.4 per cent over )
Top ten footwear producers in
12
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10 China
India
Brazil
Indonesia
Italy
Vietnam
Mexico
Thailand
Pakistan
Turkey 6,442 million pairs
715 million pairs
580 million pairs
499 million pairs
390 million pairs
303 million pairs
285 million pairs
267 million pairs
241 million pairs
219 million pairs (+50.9 per cent over )
(+54.8 per cent over )
(+16.0 per cent over )
(+34.5 per cent over )
(-18.0 per cent over )
(new entry)
(new entry)
(-34.9 per cent over )
(new entry)
(new entry)
By , total worldwide output had risen to around 7,850 million pairs, and there had been a slight shift towards a greater share for Asia, which produced some 40 per cent of the world&#;s footwear. Eastern Europe was still in second place, reporting 23 per cent. Producers in North and South America had actually improved their market share, making 18.3 per cent of the global output, and Western Europe had dropped to 14.8 per cent. Africa was on 3.2 per cent and Australasia reported a 0.5 per cent share.
The s began with close to ten billion pairs of footwear being produced, most of the growth coming from mainland China. By the first year of the new decade, Asia and the Middle East (a new categorisation) manufactured 58 per cent of the world&#;s footwear, followed by Eastern Europe on 13 per cent, Western Europe (12 per cent), South America on 8 per cent, and North/Central America (another new combination) on 6 per cent.
In , Asia and the Middle East reported 72.3 per cent of the world&#;s output, with China alone contributing 42.7 per cent of the global total within this figure. In that year, Western Europe was the second-largest producing region, standing at 10.5 per cent, with South America still on 8 per cent. North/Central America had dropped to a 4.5 per cent market share, with Eastern Europe reporting 3 per cent, Africa 1.5 per cent and Australasia 0.2 per cent.
Image © Alessandro Canova | Dreamstime
Annual volume kept Italy as the major Western European producer
In , the global economic crisis started to impact footwear sales and production around the world. Manufacturing figures dipped slightly below the level to just over 16.5 billion pairs. There was a small recovery in and a more significant increase in , when the total world output was calculated at over 17.7 billion pairs. Although China&#;s market share dropped from 60.8 per cent in to 60.5 per cent in , It still had a formidable output which approached 11 billion pairs.
Top ten footwear producers in
12
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10 China
India
Brazil
Indonesia
Vietnam
Thailand
Pakistan
Italy
Mexico
Turkey 9,000 million pairs
909 million pairs
762 million pairs
580 million pairs
525 million pairs
264 million pairs
251 million pairs
250 million pairs
197 million pairs
170 million pairs (+39.7 per cent over )
(+27.1 per cent over )
(+31.4 per cent over )
(+16.2 per cent over )
(+73.3 per cent over )
(-1.1 per cent over )
(+4.1 per cent over )
(-35.9 per cent over )
(-30.8 per cent over )
(-22.4 per cent over )
Top ten footwear producers in
12
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10 China
India
Brazil
Vietnam
Indonesia
Pakistan
Mexico
Thailand
Italy
Turkey 10,734 million pairs
2,020 million pairs
831 million pairs
713 million pairs
623 million pairs
258 million pairs
240 million pairs
232 million pairs
219 million pairs
177 million pairs (+19.3 per cent over )
(+122.2 per cent over )
(+9.1 per cent over )
(+35.8 per cent over )
(+7.4 per cent over )
(+2.8 per cent over )
(+21.8 per cent over )
(-12.1 per cent over )
(-12.4 per cent over )
(+4.1 per cent over )
In , Asia and the Middle East together accounted for 85.5 per cent of the world&#;s footwear production. South America&#;s manufacturing figure had reduced to 6 per cent of the global output, followed by Eastern Europe (2.8 per cent), Western Europe on 2.6 per cent North/Central America (1.6 per cent and Africa (1.3 per cent).
Consistent form
Interestingly, for a decade from to , the same countries formed the top ten list &#; Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Italy, Mexico, Pakistan, Thailand, Turkey and Vietnam. Of course, the international shoemaking industry faces an ongoing evolution, and various factors are affecting where footwear is produced. Will we see a return to manufacturing in &#;traditional&#; Western nations, or a continued shift to newly emerging locations? Will China&#;s dominance ever be realistically challenged? Time will tell.
The information in this article is based on past editions of SATRA&#;s World Footwear Markets &#; an authoritative analysis of global footwear production, imports, exports and consumption. This annual publication reveals worldwide and regional industry trends and includes country profiles covering the world&#;s main footwear regions.
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Publishing Data
This article was originally published on page 8 of the April issue of SATRA Bulletin.
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