According to Abicalçados, the Brazilian Footwear Industries Association, in October alone, Brazil exported 12.85 million pairs, which generated revenue of 93.96 million US dollars. This reflects an increase of 23.3% in volume and of 69.6% in value, on a comparable basis to the same month of 2020. It is the first month of 2021 to outgrow pre-pandemic levels, as it shows a rise of 15.9% in volume and 7.2% in value, as compared to October 2020.  

Haroldo Ferreira, Executive President of Abicalçados, highlighted that this growth was boosted by leather shoe exports, which have increased by 15.9% in volume and by 6.5% in value, on a comparable basis to 2019. He added that “they are shoes with greater value-added. When their share in shipments increases, they generate impressive results”.

Overall, in the first ten months of 2021, it were exported 99 million pairs of shoes, worth 712.4 million US dollars. These figures indicate growth of 32.2% and of 30.7% in volume and value, respectively, as compared to the same period last year. On a comparable basis to 2019, footwear exports have increased by 2.7% in volume and by 13.2% in value in the first ten months of the current year.

Main destinations

The US remains the main destination for Brazilian footwear exports. In the then months to October 2021, it were shipped 11.75 million pairs of shoes, worth 177.6 million US dollars. These figures suggest an increase of 51.5% in volume and of 50.4% in value, on a comparable basis to the same period last year.

The second foreign market for footwear exports was Argentina, which bought 10.76 million pairs of shoes for 92.4 million US dollars. This reflects growth of 71.5% and of 53.7% in volume and value, respectively. France comes next, as it imported 6.17 million pairs of Brazilian footwear, worth 50.3 million US dollars, which shows an increase of 10.3% in volume and of 9.7% in value, as compared to the same period last year.

Brazilian Footwear Industry

Brazil has one of the largest footwear industries in the world, characterized by its strong domestic footwear market. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the year 2020 was especially difficult for the sector. The Brazilian Footwear Industries Association noted that national production of footwear dropped to levels of 16 years ago, and official statistics show that exports reached their lowest figure of the decade. Nonetheless, the World Footwear 2021 Yearbook (more information available here) indicates that Brazil ranked fifth both among the top 10 footwear producers and the top 10 footwear consumers.