According to the Export Promotion Bureau of the Government of Bangladesh, in the first quarter of the current financial year*, the country's overall leather exports amounted to 327.97 million US dollars, growing by 20.87%, as compared to the same period of the prior fiscal year. This resulted in an export level 6.36% above the established strategic target set for the period of 308.36 million US dollars.

Leather footwear exports, which accounted roughly for 65.1% of the total value exported, generated 210. 96 million US dollars in the referred period. This figure reflects a 25.04% growth over the same quarter of the past financial year. This performance also exceeded the strategic target set of 175.59 million US dollars by 20.04%.

Both leather goods and finished leather exports, however, failed to exceed the strategic target set established for the first quarter of the year. Leather goods exports totalled 82.50 million US dollars, up by 16.74% on a comparable basis to the same period of last year, but down by 12.44%, as compared to the strategic target set of 94.22 million US dollars. Similarly, finished leather exports grew by 8.01%, year-over-year, amounting to 34.52 million US dollars, but down by 10.43% from the target set of 38.54 million US dollars.

Other footwear exports rose by 35.31% over the first three months of the year, reaching 125.34 million US dollars, on a comparable basis to the period of July 2021 – September 2021. The export level was 12.56% ahead of the strategic target set of 111.35 million US dollars.

Bangladeshi Footwear Industry

Bangladeshi exports returned to growth in 2021, reaching new records. The World Footwear 2022 Yearbook (more information available here) shoes that the USA and the European Union are the main markets for Bangladeshi shoes. Bangladesh is now the 16^th exporter in the world and is in the top 10 of producers and consumers of footwear.