The Federal Association of the German Footwear and Leather Goods Industry (HDS/L) has held its Press Conference at the second day of Gallery Shoes. Two updates were given: one regarding the situation of the manufacturing industry and another one regarding foreign trade. Today we will focus on the news regarding the situation of the manufacturing industry in the country 2019.

For more information about the INTERNATIONAL TRADE OF THE GERMANY FOOTWEAR INDUSTRY READ THIS ARTICLE

After several years of growth, sales once again returned to negative territory. In 2019, sales of German footwear manufacturers fell by 2.7% compared to the previous year. According to the same source, total sales in 2019 (calendar year) amounted to 2.89 billion euros, with domestic sales declining by 1.8% and foreign sales of the German footwear industry dropping more strongly (-6.8%).

According to the Federal Association of the German Footwear and Leather Goods Industry (HDS/L), this sales trend had no impact on the employment situation in the German footwear industry: the number of people employed continued to increase in 2019 (+2%), totalling 15 708 employees at the end of 2019.

Main Challenges & Coronavirus

For the HDS/L the biggest challenges for the footwear sector are currently the growing importance of online retailing, the increasingly pervasive discount campaigns, the continuous slowdown of customer frequency in stationary retail and the practically absent winter.

On top of this now comes the new coronavirus which is expected to significantly impact the footwear sector. After the virus initially appeared in China, the number one producer of this industry, it has also reached Europe in the meantime. In addition, there are still travel and other restrictions in the logistics and transportation area. "The impact on the German textile, fashion and footwear industry, particularly with a view to the absent or delayed delivery of raw materials and other supplier products, cannot be assessed with certainty right now. Considering the continuing effect on the delivery and value chains, reliable evaluations will be possible in the next one or two weeks at the earliest. Due to the large uncertainties in the world markets, the German economy has already had a weak start this year. The effects of the epidemic additionally increase the pressure on our companies. The federal government must now provide economic impulses as fast as possible to stimulate growth", HDS/L concluded.

Outlook

Although the exact consequences of the coronavirus are not foreseeable yet and the uncertainty around the structuring with regard to the relationship between the EU and United Kingdom, German footwear manufacturers are confident as a whole for 2020. However, HDS/L is asking the "federal government (to) provide economic impulses to stimulate growth as quickly as possible".