French footwear industry expects only slight downturn in 2012
22/11/2012
A strong performance in export markets and among high-end brands has helped minimise the effect on the industry of a tough economic climate at home, and the industry has said it hopes new footwear companies, especially on the design side, will set up in France in the future.
Jean-Pierre Renaudin, president of the French Footwear Federation, said in recent comments that the industry had had a relatively poor first half of the year in 2012, but that the autumn season had gone well. This led him to conclude that when full-year figures are available, they will show 2012 to have been a stable or only slightly negative year.
Full-year figures for 2011 show that manufacturers in France produced 24 million pairs of shoes, with a value of EUR 861 million. However, including shoes made outside the country, French footwear firms exported 80 million pairs in the course of the year, earning export revenues of EUR 1.7 billion.
Shoes imported into France in 2011 totalled 481 million pairs, with a value of EUR 4.7 billion.
Mr Renaudin said 82 companies employing a total of 5,800 people make up the French footwear industry at the moment.
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