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Global footwear trade in 2024: China exports slow, US and Germany rebound in imports
China remained the top footwear exporter in 2024, with exports increasing in volume but decreasing in value. Meanwhile, Vietnam and Indonesia consolidated their positions with double-digit export growth. On the import side, the US and Germany reversed their import declines in 2023, which suggests a resurgence in global demand
Exports
While China is still the world’s number one footwear exporter, 2024 won't be a year to remember. By the end of December, the Asian giant had shipped 9.2 billion pairs of shoes, up by 2% year-on-year, but this did not translate into value, which fell by 7% to 46.9 billion US dollars.On the contrary, and albeit at a distance, Vietnam and Indonesia continue their upward trend. In 2024, Vietnamese footwear exports reached 22.8 billion US dollars, up by 13% year-on-year, and Indonesian footwear exports reached 6.9 billion US dollars, up by 9.9% year-on-year.
Germany, which according to the World Footwear 2024 Yearbook (more information here) was the world’s fourth-largest footwear exporter in 2023, can also look back on last year with a positive outlook. The European country’s footwear exports grew by 1% in volume and 10% in value to 354 million pairs and 11.2 billion euros, as compared to the previous year.
The performance of Türkiye and India is also worth highlighting - two countries that have stood out on the global footwear scene in recent years for their efforts to modernise the industry.
India, the world’s second-largest industry, which mainly supplies its vast domestic market, saw its footwear exports fall by 2.3% in value to 2.2 billion US dollars. For Türkiye, the fall was even steeper, down by 8.5% to 1.2 billion euros.
Imports
The United States, the world’s largest footwear import market, and Germany, the largest footwear importer in Europe, reversed the downward trend seen in 2023.Last year, US footwear imports increased by 8.1% in volume to 2.14 billion pairs of shoes and by 6.3% in value to 27.0 billion US dollars, and German footwear exports increased by 5.4% in volume to 654.9 million pairs of shoes and by 7.8% in value to 13.0 billion euros, as compared to the previous year.
Within the EU markets, it’s worth noting that French and Italian footwear imports increased by 2.3% and 2.6% to 447.1 million pairs of shoes and 344.1 million pairs of shoes, respectively, on a comparable basis to 2023. In value terms, however, both countries recorded declining values, falling by 1% to 8.4 billion euros and 3.7% to 6.7 billion euros.
On the contrary, Japanese footwear imports were flat in terms of volume and fell by 3.6% in terms of value to 4.7 billion US dollars, affected by a weaker yen. In the UK, footwear imports also fell by 4% in value to 5.2 billion US dollars.
Image Credits: Kelvin Han on Unsplash
