In the first eleven months of the current fiscal year*, Bangladeshi leather exports increased by 31.85%, as compared to the same period of last year, reaching 1.11 billion US dollars. The export level was 18.1% above the strategic target of 944.78 million US dollars. The data from the Export Promotion Bureau of the Government of Bangladesh also shows that leather footwear exports represented roughly 60.3% of the total value exported.

Leather footwear exports rose by 31.59% in the referred period, generating 672.98 million US dollars, on a comparable basis to similar period of the previous fiscal year. The figure exceeded the strategic target set of 568.15 million US dollars by 18.45%.

In the ten months to May 2022, leather goods exports amounted to 302.66 million US dollars, which reflects an increase of 34.06%, as compared to the same period of the prior fiscal year. This segment also performed ahead of the strategic target set (257.04 million US dollars) by 17.75%. Finished leather exports totalled 139.93 million US dollars, up by 28.56% year-over-year, and over the established target set (of 119.59 million US dollars) by 17.01%.

Other footwear exports rose by 33.85% over the first eleven months of the year, reaching 408.18 million US dollars, on a comparable basis to the period of July 2020 – May 2021. The export level was 11.36% ahead of the strategic target set of 366.55 million US dollars.

Bangladeshi Footwear Industry

According to the World Footwear 2021 Yearbook (AVAILABLE HERE), in 2020, Bangladesh was the 8^th largest footwear producer (423 million pairs) and the 9^th largest consumer market (366 million pairs) worldwide. Most of its production supplies the domestic market: only 72 million pairs were exported in 2020 (making it the 16^th largest exporter of footwear). Exports, which had been growing consistently and sharply for years, declined in 2020 for the first time in a decade.

*Bangladesh's financial year runs from July to June