According to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS), in the first half of the current financial year, leather manufacturers exports grew by 9.41% in value, generating 319.79 million US dollars, on a comparable basis to the revenue of 292.28 million US dollars reported in the same period of the prior year.

In this period, tanned leather exports revenue amounted to 96.10 million US dollars. There was an increase in both volume (up by 57.24%) and value (up by 33.27%), as compared to the first half of the prior fiscal year 2020-2021.

From July to December 2021, it were sent abroad 8.27 million pairs of shoes, at the value of 72.79 million US dollars. Leather footwear exports represent roughly 80.91% of the total value (58.90 million US dollars).

The data shows that there was a decline in the volume of leather footwear (down by 3.53%) and canvas footwear exports (down by 58.21%). However, both categories performed well in value: leather footwear and canvas footwear exports increased by 7.20% and by 35.89%, respectively, on a comparable basis to the first half of the previous financial year. Other footwear exports, on the other hand, rose by 41.37% in value, totalling 13.61 million US dollars, and by 8.55% in volume (it exported 4.56 million pairs of shoes).

Pakistan Footwear Industry

The Pakistani footwear industry, mostly focused on its domestic market, is the 7^th largest in the world. The World Footwear 2021 Yearbook (AVAILABLE HERE) indicates that, in 2020, the country manufactured 483 million pairs of shoes, which reflects a world share of 2.4%. Last year, footwear exports decreased by 8% and, for the 3^rd consecutive year, imports also decreased. Although Pakistan destination exports are widely spread geographically, it sources predominantly textile footwear from China.

Pakistan’s fiscal year runs from July to June.