Trade

Spain: growth of footwear exports slows down

Aug 2, 2023 Spain

From January to April, Spanish footwear exports grew by 17.4% in volume and 2.3% in value, as compared to the same period of last year, reflecting a slowdown in growth, says FICE

According to the Federation of Spanish Footwear Industries (FICE), in the first four months of 2023, the country's footwear companies exported about 56.1 million pairs of shoes for a value close to 1153 million euros. These figures indicate an increase in value and volume of 17.4% and 2.3% over the same period of 2022, reflecting “a slowdown in growth”.

The Association emphasised that footwear exports are growing in most of its main markets - France, Italy, Portugal, Poland, the Netherlands, Turkey, and Greece - but said it was particularly concerned about the performances in Germany, due to the impact of the war and recession on the footwear industry, and the US.

From January to April, Germany bought 4.1 million pairs of Spanish shoes worth 109.7 million euros, down by 11.6% in volume and up by 9.1% in value, on a comparable basis to the first four months of 2022. Similarly, Spain shipped 1.7 million pairs of shoes to the US, generating 70.5 million euros, which shows a decline of 17.1% in volume and 5% in value year-over-year.

When compared to pre-pandemic levels, the results are highly market-dependent. Exports exceeded 2019 figures in countries such as Italy, Portugal, Poland, the Netherlands, Turkey, Ireland, the Czech Republic, Sweden, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, but remain 50% below in volume for the UK, China and Japan.

Spanish Footwear Industry

According to the World Footwear 2023 Yearbook (more information available HERE), in 2022, Spain enjoyed a notable 6.7% increase in footwear production, bolstered by a substantial 8.6% growth in exports. Primarily concentrated in the Valencia region, the Spanish footwear industry ranks among the top 20 producers worldwide.

Image Credits: Maxime Vandenberge on Unsplash

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