Countries With Largest Exports of Leather Shoes. Two Southeast Asian Countries in the List

Global sales from leather shoes exports by country in 2017 totaled US$52 billion. That dollar amount reflects a -6% decline in value from leather footwear exported in 2013 when international sales equaled $55.3 billion. Year over year, leather shoes exports depreciated by -6% from 2016 to 2017.

Among continents, Asian countries accounted for the highest dollar value worth of exported leather shoes with shipments valued at $26.4 billion or 50.7% of worldwide export sales for this commodity. European exporters were close behind, exporting $23.3 billion worth or 44.8% of the global total.

Smaller percentages came from North America (1.7%), Latin America excluding Mexico but including the Caribbean (also at 1.7%), Africa (1%) then Oceania (0.1%).

Below are the 15 countries that exported the highest dollar value worth of leather shoes during 2017:

1. China: US$9.1 billion (17.4% of total exported leather shoes)
2. Italy: $7.7 billion (14.8%)
3. Vietnam: $6 billion (11.6%)
4. Germany: $3.3 billion (6.3%)
5. Indonesia: $2.6 billion (4.9%)
6. Portugal: $1.9 billion (3.7%)
7. France: $1.9 billion (3.6%)
8. Belgium: $1.8 billion (3.5%)
9. Netherlands: $1.7 billion (3.2%)
10. Spain: $1.7 billion (3.2%)
11. Hong Kong: $1.5 billion (3%)
12. India: $1.4 billion (2.7%)
13. United Kingdom: $1.2 billion (2.2%)
14. Cambodia: $720 million (1.4%)
15. Romania: $671.5 million (1.3%)

The listed 15 countries shipped 82.9% of all leather shoes exports in 2017 (by value).

Among the above countries, the fastest-growing leather shoes exporters since 2013 were: Cambodia (up 261.8%), Vietnam (up 66.1%), Germany (up 24%), Indonesia (up 12.3%) and France (up 10.3%).

Those countries that posted declines in their exported leather shoes sales were led by: Hong Kong (down -50.7%), India (down -28.8%), Romania (down -27.5%), China (down -22.7%) and Belgium (down -20.3%).

The following countries posted the highest positive net exports for leather shoes during 2017. Investopedia defines net exports as the value of a country’s total exports minus the value of its total imports. Thus, the statistics below present the surplus between the value of each country’s leather shoes exports and its import purchases for that same commodity.

1. China: US$7.6 billion (net export surplus down -27.2% since 2013)
2. Vietnam: $5.9 billion (up 63.5%)
3. Italy: $5 billion (down -10.8%)
4. Indonesia: $2.5 billion (up 12.7%)
5. Portugal: $1.7 billion (down -6.2%)
6. India: $1.3 billion (down -28.6%)
7. Cambodia: $717 million (up 261.5%)
8. Bangladesh: $619.2 million (up 105.3%)
9. Spain: $526.1 million (down -30.5%)
10. Romania: $431.4 million (down -44.6%)
11. Brazil: $377.3 million (down -7.4%)
12. Tunisia: $338.9 million (up 27.8%)
13. Dominican Republic: $265.7 million (up 76.1%)
14. Slovakia: $253.8 million (down -37%)
15. Thailand: $200.7 million (down -17.6%)

China has the highest surplus in the international trade of leather shoes. In turn, this positive cashflow confirms China’s strong competitive advantage for this specific product category.

Research Sources:
The World Factbook, Field Listing: Exports – Commodities, Central Intelligence Agency. Accessed on May 22, 2018

Trade Map, International Trade Centre. Accessed on May 22, 2018

Investopedia, Net Exports Definition. Accessed on May 22, 2018

Wikipedia, Shoe companies by country. Accessed on May 22, 2018

Zepol’s company summary highlights by HTS code. Accessed on May 22, 2018