Portugal: great year for footwear exports
26/03/2008
Last year looks like being the Portuguese footwear industry’s best in 20 years for exports.
Shoe exports grew by 9.2% on the previous year’s levels to reach 70 million pairs. In terms of value, growth was 5.2%, reaching €1.2 billion. Around 90% of Portuguese production went into export markets.
The Portuguese Association of Footwear, Components, Leathergoods and Similar Manufacturers (APICCAPS) said it was necessary to look as far back as 1990 to find such a positive result for the industry in international markets.
The organisation also said that Portugal was now exporting shoes to 118 countries.
More than 50 million pairs of the exported shoes (71% of the total) were made of leather, which represents growth of 2.6%, with waterproof and plastic shoes enjoying much higher levels of growth, more than 20%. However, the value of leather shoe exports, €1.08 billion, accounted for more than 90% of total export value.
APICCAPS said in a statement that France had confirmed its position as the number-one export market for Portuguese footwear manufacturers, registering growth of 20.3% last year, with 19 million pairs of Portuguese shoes going into the French market.
The organisation added that it was surprised to find Spain in second place in terms of growth. Footwear exports to the neighbouring country only began during the 1990s, but by last year had reached 11 million pairs, a rise of 23.3% on 2006.
Exports to two other large markets—Germany and the United Kingdom—showed drops, of 0.4% and 5.5% respectively.
While Europe is clearly the most important continent for shoe manufacturers in Portugal, APICCAPS went on to say that Portuguese footwear is now proving popular in all continents.
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