According to the latest data by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS), during the first eleven months of the current fiscal year*, Pakistan leather manufacturers exports increased by 18.74% in value, as compared to the same period in the preceding year. From July 2020 to June 2021, the country exported a total value of 562.79 million US dollars of leather goods, as compared to the 473.96 US dollars exports value reported in similar period in the previous year.

The same source indicates that during the referred period, revenue exports of tanned leather corresponded to 161.94 million US dollars. There was a decline in both volume (-25.98%) and value (-12.04%), on a comparable basis to the same period of 2019-2020.

Footwear

With only one month left to close the fiscal year, 16.61 million pairs of shoes were already sent abroad, resulting in exports revenue of 131.89 million US dollars. On a comparable basis to the same period last year, there was an increase of 22.3% in volume and 4.72% in value. Leather footwear exports represent roughly 82.22% of the total value of footwear exports (108.45 million US dollars). Exports of canvas footwear and other footwear continue to increase both in value and volume.

Pakistan Footwear Industry

The Pakistani footwear industry is the 7th largest in the world. According to the World Footwear 2021 Yearbook (AVAILABLE HERE), in 2020 the Asian country produced 483 million pairs of shoes, which is correspondent to the world share of 2.4%. Mostly concentrated in the province of Punjab, the industry is predominantly focused on its internal market. Last year, footwear exports decreased by 8% and, for the 3rd consecutive year, imports also decreased. Even-tough Pakistan destination exports are widely spread geographically, it imports mainly textile footwear from China.

* Pakistan’s financial year runs from July to June