The growth of footwear imports

Investigating the sometimes dramatic increases in demand for shoes by various markets around the world since the mid 1970s.

by Stuart Morgan

The article ‘The global movement of footwear production’, published in the April 2017 issue of SATRA Bulletin, investigated how between 1975 and 2010, China came to dominate the world of shoemaking and rapidly accelerated away from other countries in terms of the quantities produced. The article also highlighted how so-called ‘traditional’ footwear producing nations were overtaken by such countries as Brazil, India, Vietnam and Indonesia. The USA, as an example, slipped from the top ten of footwear-producing nations by the year 2000 and so far has not regained its place in the manufacturing heavyweights. This month, we will consider where most imports of footwear have been delivered over the same 1975-2010 period, as well as how many pairs of shoes have been delivered.

Not surprisingly, most products have been shipped to the lands where spending customers are living. While footwear production in the USA has all but disappeared when compared to the millions of pairs (and in some cases, billions) made in other countries, US imports grew by 502.3 per cent during these 35 years. Other nations with reasonably healthy GDPs – such as France, Germany, Japan and the UK – were ever-present in the list of top ten footwear importing nations.

Top ten footwear importers in 1975
1 2 3 4 5 6 =7 =7 9 10	USA W Germany USSR UK France Canada Netherlands Japan Australia Belgium	394 million pairs 145 million pairs 119 million pairs 79 million pairs 74 million pairs 43 million pairs 34 million pairs 34 million pairs 32 million pairs 29 million pairs

Top ten footwear importers in 1980
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10	USA W Germany France USSR UK Japan Hong Kong* Netherlands Canada Belgium	486 million pairs 205 million pairs 128 million pairs 119 million pairs 106 million pairs 75 million pairs 63 million pairs 53 million pairs 49 million pairs 46 million pairs	(+23.4 per cent over 1975) (+41.4 per cent over 1975) (+73.0 per cent over 1975) (+0 per cent over 1975) (+34.2 per cent over 1975) (+120.6 per cent over 1975) (new entry) (+55.9 per cent over 1975) (+14.0 per cent over 1975) (+58.6 per cent over 1975)
*Hong Kong figures in these tables include footwear destined for re-export

Interestingly, three nations with much smaller populations than the other importing countries (Hong Kong, the Netherlands and Belgium) can be seen in these tables, with Hong Kong actually taking top spot for footwear imports in the mid-1990s. While re-exporting of shoes takes place from every country on these lists, these three nations were reportedly particularly active in this trade, so explaining why the number of pairs arriving on their shores was in some cases many times their own population. Gradually, however, even the Netherlands was overtaken as a shipping destination, until it dropped out of the list of top ten importers by 2010.

Top ten footwear importers in 1985
1 2 3 =4 =4 6 7 8 9 10	USA W Germany Hong Kong* UK France USSR Japan Netherlands Canada Italy	933 million pairs 223 million pairs 166 million pairs 157 million pairs 157 million pairs 152 million pairs 89 million pairs 62 million pairs 59 million pairs 56 million pairs	(+92.0 per cent over 1980) (+8.9 per cent over 1980) (+163.5 per cent over 1980) (+48.1 per cent over 1980) (+22.7 per cent over 1980) (+27.7 per cent over 1980) (+18.7 per cent over 1980) (+17.0 per cent over 1980) (+20.4 per cent over 1980) (new entry)

Top ten footwear importers in 1990
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10	USA Hong Kong* Germany** France UK Japan CIS*** Netherlands Canada Italy	1,097 million pairs 682 million pairs 317 million pairs 212 million pairs 209 million pairs 168 million pairs 149 million pairs 93 million pairs 79 million pairs 74 million pairs	(+17.6 per cent over 1985) (+310.8 per cent over 1985) (+42.2 per cent over 1985) (+35.0 per cent over 1985) (+33.1 per cent over 1985) (+88.8 per cent over 1985) (-2.0 per cent over 1985) (+50.0 per cent over 1985) (+34.0 per cent over 1985) (+32.1 per cent over 1985)
**Following the re-unification of Germany ***The Commonwealth of Independent States – comprising nine of the 15 former Soviet republics – compared to the 1985 figures for the USSR

As already mentioned, the amount of footwear being shipped into the USA rose by more than 500 per cent between 1975 and 2010. However, other countries saw their imports grow even more. France saw its imports boosted by 508.1 per cent during these years, Belgium by 662.1 per cent and Japan by an amazing 1,697.1 per cent. Hong Kong arrived as a major importer in the 1980s and logged a 784 per cent increase by 2010. Other nations which have seen import growth during the 35 years up to 2010 include the UK (496.2 per cent), Germany (267.6 per cent) and Russia (reported as USSR and then CIS up to the 1990s) which, despite the turmoil of political upheaval, saw a 128.6 per cent growth in imported footwear between 1975 and 2010.

Top ten footwear importers in 1995
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10	Hong Kong* USA Japan Germany France UK Italy Netherlands Canada Belgium		1,474 million pairs 1,409 million pairs 386 million pairs 337 million pairs 249 million pairs 213 million pairs 140 million pairs 99 million pairs 88 million pairs 77 million pairs	(+116.1 per cent over 1990) (+28.4 per cent over 1990) (+129.8 per cent over 1990) (+6.3 per cent over 1990) (+17.5 per cent over 1990) (+1.9 per cent over 1990) (+89.2 per cent over 1990) (+6.5 per cent over 1990) (+11.4 per cent over 1990) (new entry)

Top ten footwear importers in 2000
1 2 3 4 =5 =5 7 =8 =8 10	USA Hong Kong* Japan Germany UK France Italy Netherlands Poland Russia	1,746 million pairs 1,057 million pairs 423 million pairs 349 million pairs 280 million pairs 280 million pairs 196 million pairs 114 million pairs 114 million pairs 111 million pairs	(+23.9 per cent over 1995) (-28.3 per cent over 1995) (+9.6 per cent over 1995) (+3.6 per cent over 1995) (+31.5 per cent over 1995) (+12.4 per cent over 1995) (+40.0 per cent over 1995) (+15.2 per cent over 1995) (new entry) (re-entry)

It is interesting to compare the increase in these import figures with the steady growth in the world’s population during these 35 years. While some regions obviously had greater population increases than others, the overall figures go some way to indicating why there is a solid growth in demand for footwear. While in 1975 there were reportedly 4.06 billion people on the planet, this rose to 4.85 billion ten years later, 5.74 billion in 1995, 6.52 billion in 2005 and a little under seven billion in 2010. The population of the biggest importer – the USA – grew from 215.97 million in 1975 to 309.35 million 35 years later (a 43.2 per cent increase). Taking into consideration the 500 per cent growth in footwear imports during this period, individual consumers in the USA apparently bought far more shoes in 2010 than they did in the mid 1970s.

Top footwear importers in 2005
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10	USA Hong Kong* Japan Germany UK France Italy Spain Russia Netherlands	2,252 million pairs 866 million pairs 556 million pairs 464 million pairs 424 million pairs 379 million pairs 333 million pairs 247 million pairs 178 million pairs 163 million pairs	(+29.0 per cent over 2000) (-18.1 per cent over 2000) (+31.4 per cent over 2000) (+33.0 per cent over 2000) (+51.4 per cent over 2000) (+35.4 per cent over 2000) (+69.9 per cent over 2000) (new entry) (+60.4 per cent over 2000) (+43.0 per cent over 2000)

Top footwear importers in 2010
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10	USA Japan Germany Hong Kong* UK France Italy Spain Russia Belgium	2,373 million pairs 611 million pairs 533 million pairs 494 million pairs 471 million pairs 450 million pairs 368 million pairs 315 million pairs 272 million pairs 221 million pairs	(+5.4 per cent over 2005) (+9.9 per cent over 2005) (+14.9 per cent over 2005) (-43.0 per cent over 2005) (+11.1 per cent over 2005) (+18.7 per cent over 2005) (+10.5 per cent over 2005) (+27.5 per cent over 2005) (+52.8 per cent over 2005) (re-entry)

An issue that importers face, of course, is the added cost of duty charges. In recent years, many importers of footwear have been hit by increasing levels of taxation, depending on the style involved and where the item was made. There are a number of nation blocs (such as the European Union) where footwear from certain countries are viewed favourably when it comes to tariffs levied. By contrast, shoes imported from other nations – often in Asia – may be hit by considerable duties in an attempt to stem the flow of ‘cheap’ shoes.

Future footwear imports

As economies grow in various countries and their citizens’ expendable incomes gradually rise, the demand for quality shoes is likely to increase. While being a gradual process, we may see further movement in the world’s top ten footwear importing nations, and perhaps some new names entering the list in the years to come.

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 38 of the June 2017 issue of SATRA Bulletin.

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