The global movement of footwear production

The changing face of international shoemaking since the mid 1970s.

by Stuart Morgan

Statistics for footwear production around the world in recent decades show distinct shifts from ‘traditional’ shoemaking regions to factories in new or developing areas. In some cases, such relocations are as a result of political change; but generally they seem to follow an economic drive to cut production costs by using a lower-paid work force.

In the tables included in this article, we highlight change in the location of footwear production between 1975 and 2010 – a period of 35 years. In 1975, the then-existing USSR was by far the highest producer in the world, manufacturing just over one billion pairs of footwear during the year. China was in second place on 760 million pairs, followed by the USA. Italy had long been a force in European footwear production and produced 348 million pairs during the year. Interestingly, at this time the UK still produced sufficient footwear to take the final place in the table, but factory closures quickly pushed it out of the list of the world’s most prolific producers.

The USA

Even in 1975, the USA’s demise as a major footwear producer was evident. Although still in the top three producing nations by 1980, output had fallen by 13.2 per cent over the preceding five years. By 1985, a further 31.1 per cent drop meant that the USA was down to ninth place in the world’s footwear producers. In 1990, the country’s footwear manufacturers made 293 million pairs – almost half the number produced just a decade before. Five years later, there was an apparent resurgence, with the USA rising to seventh in the table. However, this was only as a result of a group of footwear-producing nations pulling away from the rest of the pack and leaving the others – including the USA – trailing behind. By this time, USA shoemaking had declined by another 22.5 per cent over 1990. Finally, by 2000, the country had slipped from the top ten producers’ list and has not been able to regain a place there since that time.

Chinese dominance

Impressive increases in footwear production saw China climb to the top of the table by 1985 – a position it has held ever since, with no realistic sign that it will lose this spot in the foreseeable future. A boost in Chinese manufacturing was particularly seen during the 1980s, with a 71.2 per cent boost in footwear production between 1980 and 1985, followed by an incredible 76.2 per cent rise over the following five years. Such annual increases were unsustainable, however, and while each year the Chinese achievement was still envied by other nations, the rise in production gradually slowed, until by 2010 – the last year considered in this article – China’s footwear production was ‘only’ 19.3 per cent when compared with the turn of the new century. Nevertheless, by this time, Chinese footwear producers were making an incredible 10,734 million pairs per year – more than five times that of its nearest competitor nation, India.

Emerging producers

A number of footwear manufacturing nations have worked their way into the top ten list since 1975. Brazilian shoemakers, for example, made 425 million pairs in 1980, gaining sixth place for the year – just below the established Italian companies’ total figure. After that, Brazil slowly clawed up the table, achieving second place behind China in 1995. Although overtaken by India at the start of the new millennium, Brazilian production kept the country in third place in 2010.

Top ten footwear producers in 1990
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10	China CIS* S Korea Brazil Italy Taiwan Japan Thailand USA India	2,700 million pairs 820 million pairs 535 million pairs 502 million pairs 425 million pairs 417 million pairs 350 million pairs 306 million pairs 293 million pairs 230 million pairs	(+76.2 per cent over 1985) (-18.3 per cent over 1985) (+56.4 per cent over 1985) (-7.1 per cent over 1985) (-19.0 per cent over 1985) (-37.0 per cent over 1985) (-25.2 per cent over 1985) (new entry) (-13.6 per cent over 1985) (-34.2 per cent over 1985)
*The Commonwealth of Independent States – comprising nine of the 15 former Soviet republics – compared to 1985 figures for the USSR.

Another new entrant on the international shoemaking scene in 1980 was South Korea. By 1990, its footwear producers were making 535 million pairs. However, things changed rapidly, with national production reporting a dramatic 34.6 per cent drop between 1990 and 1995. Like the USA, by 2000, South Korea had slipped from the top ten. Four other countries that are today regarded as major footwear producers gained a foothold in the top ten list for 2000 – Vietnam, Mexico, Pakistan and Turkey.

Increasing market share

While global output of footwear in the 1970s from all producing nations around the world – large and small – could only be a close estimate, the total figure of 6,500 million pairs in 1975 was certainly a reasonable one. In that year, 34.5 per cent of output came from Asia, 25.7 per cent from Eastern Europe, 18.2 per cent from Western Europe, 18.1 per cent from North and South America and 2.8 per cent from Africa.

By 1980, total worldwide output had risen to around 7,850 million pairs, and there had been a slight shift towards a greater share for Asia, which produced some 40 per cent of the world’s footwear. Eastern Europe was still in second place, reporting 23 per cent. Producers in North and South America had actually improved their market share, making 18.3 per cent of the global output, and Western Europe had dropped to 14.8 per cent. Africa was on 3.2 per cent and Australasia reported a 0.5 per cent share.

The 1990s began with close to ten billion pairs of footwear being produced, most of the growth coming from mainland China. By the first year of the new decade, Asia and the Middle East (a new categorisation) manufactured 58 per cent of the world’s footwear, followed by Eastern Europe on 13 per cent, Western Europe (12 per cent), South America on 8 per cent, and North/Central America (another new combination) on 6 per cent.

In 1996, Asia and the Middle East reported 72.3 per cent of the world’s output, with China alone contributing 42.7 per cent of the global total within this figure. In that year, Western Europe was the second-largest producing region, standing at 10.5 per cent, with South America still on 8 per cent. North/Central America had dropped to a 4.5 per cent market share, with Eastern Europe reporting 3 per cent, Africa 1.5 per cent and Australasia 0.2 per cent.

In 2008, the global economic crisis started to impact footwear sales and production around the world. Manufacturing figures dipped slightly below the 2007 level to just over 16.5 billion pairs. There was a small recovery in 2009 and a more significant increase in 2010, when the total world output was calculated at over 17.7 billion pairs. Although China’s market share dropped from 60.8 per cent in 2009 to 60.5 per cent in 2010, It still had a formidable output which approached 11 billion pairs.

In 2010, Asia and the Middle East together accounted for 85.5 per cent of the world’s footwear production. South America’s manufacturing figure had reduced to 6 per cent of the global output, followed by Eastern Europe (2.8 per cent), Western Europe on 2.6 per cent North/Central America (1.6 per cent and Africa (1.3 per cent).

Consistent form

Interestingly, for a decade from 2000 to 2010, the same countries formed the top ten list – Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Italy, Mexico, Pakistan, Thailand, Turkey and Vietnam. Of course, the international shoemaking industry faces an ongoing evolution, and various factors are affecting where footwear is produced. Will we see a return to manufacturing in ‘traditional’ Western nations, or a continued shift to newly emerging locations? Will China’s dominance ever be realistically challenged? Time will tell.

The information in this article is based on past editions of SATRA’s World Footwear Markets – an authoritative analysis of global footwear production, imports, exports and consumption. This annual publication reveals worldwide and regional industry trends and includes country profiles covering the world’s main footwear regions.

Publishing Data

This article was originally published on page 8 of the April 2017 issue of SATRA Bulletin.

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