Trade

Largest footwear importer slows down

Dec 26, 2017 United States

The world’s largest importer, the US, reduced its imports in 2016. The trend continues with a slight decrease in value terms (-1.7%) occurred in the first semester of the current year

In the first semester of 2017 the US imported a total of 1.25 billion pairs with a total value of 12.28 billion US dollars, reflecting a slight decrease in value (-1.7%) and almost stable quantities (+0.47%), compared to similar period in 2016.

In the first semester of 2017, five countries were responsible for roughly 90% of all US footwear imports: China (55.2%), Vietnam (21.6%), Indonesia (6.5%), Italy (5.4%) and India (1.8%).

Although China maintained its position as largest supplier of footwear to the US, in comparation to the first semester in 2016, China has lost 2.3 percentage points in its share in the US market (from 57.5% to 55.2%), with Vietnam absorbing most of that lost quota (from 19.2% to 21.6%). Indonesia, whose sales to the US increased by 4.9%, also gained some share in the North American market, although in a minor extent.

This movements reinforce some of the trends verified in the past years. According to the latest edition of the World Footwear Yearbook - available here - US imports from China have fallen by more than 2 billion dollars over the last five years, while imports from Vietnam have increased by 3 billion.

United States Companies Footwear Imports World Footwear Yearbook