According to the latest edition of the World Footwear Yearbook - available here -, in 2016 India was the second largest producer of footwear, with 2.26 billion pairs manufactured in 2016, but only 236 million pairs were exported in that year (1.7% share in worldwide exports), making this the 6th largest exporter in the world and reflecting the focus of the Indian industry in its internal market of 1.3 billion people.

In the first semester of 2017 Indian exports went down by 2.8%, reaching only 97% of the amount registered in similar period last year (1.20 billion US dollars compares to 1.23 billion US dollars), according to the latest statistics.

Two countries concentrate 31% of total India’s exports: US (16%) and UK (15%). Both had declines over 12.0% in the first half of the year, driving the overall fall in the value of exports in the period.

The less positive moment of the Indian footwear exports seems to be occurring in most main markets: from the top 10 destinations of Indian footwear, only two increased the flow, Poland and Belgium, but these countries have small shares in total, 5% and 3%, respectively.

India exports mainly leather footwear, representing a 73% share in total, and these have declined 8.2% in the first six months of 2017, driving the overall fall in exports value.

India was the third largest consumer of footwear in 2016, according to the latest edition of the World Footwear Yearbook - available here. As the latest statistics from the US indicate that imports of footwear into the country slowed down in the first half of 2017 (READ ALL ABOUT IT HERE), this might be an indication of a fall in consumption in the second largest market for footwear. If we also consider that the IMF is forecasting a 6% growth rate for India's economy, cosnumption in the country will for sure reflect this dynamic, and it seems only a matter of time for India to surpass the US as the second largets consumer of footwear.