World Footwear Yearbook: Russian footwear market statistics for 2020

The analytical bulletin of APICCAPS, the Portuguese Association of Manufacturers of Footwear Components and Leather Products, World Footwear Yearbook has published a report on the Russian footwear market at the time of 2020. Despite the fact that many major changes are currently taking place in the economy of our country, the analytics remain relevant, Shoes Report provides the bulk of the material presented on the Worldfootwear.com website.

According to the World Footwear Yearbook, an analytical publication of APICCAPS, the Portuguese association of footwear, components and leather goods, for 2020, footwear consumption in Russia amounted to 324 million pairs, which puts the country in 10th place in terms of consumption in the world.

Footwear production in Russia has been declining for the last 5 years and in 2020 it fell below 100 million pairs, which puts the country in 14th place in the ranking of global manufacturers, accounting for 0,5% of global production. Imports in Russia account for almost 80% of footwear consumption (in quantitative terms), the Russian Federation is one of the 15 largest world importers of footwear (in quantitative and value terms).

For Russia, the main importer of footwear is China, with a share of 49% in value terms and 62% in quantitative terms. Belarus is also among the top five countries importing shoes from Russia, the only country that does not fall into the top 15 largest shoe manufacturers in the world (by number). Rubber and plastic shoes are the most imported type of shoes, followed by textiles.

Russia ranks 34th in footwear exports in the world, while exports are about 3,5 times less than imports. All 5 of Russia's main export markets share land borders with it, with the exception of Kyrgyzstan, which, however, is also a former republic of the Soviet Union. The main export market is Kazakhstan. Russian footwear exports are quite diverse: rubber and plastics, as well as textile footwear are the most exported types of footwear, and, unlike imports, exports are not as concentrated in one country as imports (China).

In recent years, footwear production in Russia has been declining and in 2020 amounted to less than 100 million pairs (93 million). Russia ranks 14th in the world in terms of footwear production, accounting for 0,5% of world production.

Most shoe manufacturers in Russia have their headquarters in Moscow, but factories are scattered throughout the country. There is no specific trend regarding the location of factories. Ralf Ringer, whose sales are almost twice the sales of the second largest manufacturer, has its own factories in Moscow, Zaraysk, Vladimir region, in Taldom.

5 largest Russian shoe manufacturers

Footwear consumption in Russia

In 2020, Russia's footwear consumption was 324 million pairs, making it the 10th largest footwear consumer in the world. The peak of footwear consumption in Russia was reached in 2016 - 420 million pairs, but over the past 4 years there has been a continuous downward trend, consumption decreased by 22,9%.

Major retailers

Ekko-Ros LLC is the shoe retailer with the highest sales volume registered in 2021. Ekko-Ros is the official reseller of the Danish brand Ecco in Russia, with a retail network of 236 stores (66 located in Moscow and 23 in St. Petersburg) .

On the other hand, OR LLC has more than 500 stores under the Westfalika brand throughout Russia. The city with the most stores is Omsk, located in Western Siberia, followed by Novosibirsk, Russia's third most populated city.

Unlike Ecco stores, Westfalika stores don't just sell shoes, they describe themselves on their website as "mini department stores".

The difference in shoe prices between the two leading shoe retailers in Russia is also significant, with Ecco shoe prices ranging from 9 to 900 rubles, equivalent to about $29 to $990, while Westfalika online store has several shoe models , which sell for less than 136 rubles (about $412). In this regard, after analyzing the Russian shoe market by price segments, it can be seen that shoes at low prices have occupied the largest market share in recent years.

Distribution channels and e-commerce

According to a study by the consulting company Deloitte, 40% of Russian consumers prefer to buy clothes and shoes in shopping centers where goods of different price categories are presented, and 26% do not prefer retail, but say that the location of the point is of key importance.

Mono-brand or multi-brand shoe stores are still preferred by the majority of consumers, and together they account for more than 80% of consumer preferences. They are followed by online stores, which are preferred by about 11% of consumers. From 2012 to 2019, online sales grew significantly year on year and amounted to 169,1 billion rubles, which is equivalent to about $2,3 billion.

In the segment of online sales of footwear and clothing in the Russian market, the Wildberries online marketplace is leading, followed by Lamoda.ru. The top five online shoe retailers also include Rendez-Vous.ru.

Import of footwear from Russia

Russia is one of the world's top 15 footwear importers (in terms of quantity and value), with imports accounting for almost 80% of footwear consumption (in terms of quantity), corresponding to 256 million pairs and $2 million. In recent years, Russian imports have been lower than they were ten years ago. In 773-2011, Russia annually imported shoes worth about $2013 billion.

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Imports fell sharply over the next two years as a deep recession in the Russian economy and in 2015-2016 reduced imports to $2,2 billion a year. It has since recovered to over $3 billion, but has fallen again in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

China is the main importer of footwear to Russia (49% in value terms and 62% in quantitative terms). China is followed by Vietnam (13%) and Italy (11%). Over the past 5 years, imports of shoes from Cambodia and Belarus have grown by 252% and 219% respectively, while imports from China have grown by only 9%.

Belarus imports cheap shoes (average price per pair is about $2,78, while Italy supplies expensive shoes to Russia (average price per pair is $129,13 per pair). In general, the average import price to Russia for a pair of shoes is $10,83, XNUMX.

5 largest shoe importers in Russia

Rubber and plastic footwear are the most imported type of footwear, accounting for 50% of total footwear imports, followed by textiles with 29%. Leather shoes account for 19%. Waterproof shoes account for less than 1% of imports.

Leather footwear has a more homogeneous distribution of sources, with China accounting for a 36% value share followed by Italy at 19%. However, if we compare the quantitative shares of these two countries, we will notice that imports from China are significantly higher than from Italy, since the average import price in Italy per pair is also significantly higher than in China.

The quantitative shares of China and Italy in the import of leather shoes are 49% and 4%, respectively.

Russian footwear export

Russia ranks only 34th in the world in footwear exports, its exports amounted to $233 million and 25 million pairs. These figures are significantly less than the import values. In fact, exports are almost 3,5 times less than imports and account for approximately 27% of footwear production (volume).

The average export price for a pair of shoes is $9,18, which is close to the import price, but still less.

Russian footwear exports increased significantly between 2011 and 2014, 160% in volume terms and 621% in value terms. In 2015, as with imports, exports fell sharply, but began to recover the following year and continued to increase until 2019. In 2020, the value of footwear exports decreased due to a decrease in the average price for an exported pair by $1,27.

All 5 major export markets for Russian footwear share land borders with it, with the exception of Kyrgyzstan, which, however, is also a former republic of the Soviet Union.

Kazakhstan is the main export market with a share of 39% in value terms and 30% in volume terms, and the export volume is $91 million and 7,5 million pairs.

The second largest export market is Belarus, which is the only major export market that is also in the top 5 import markets of Russia. In the past five years, Russian footwear exports to Ukraine have grown significantly, by 349%. During the same period, exports to Poland decreased by 45%.

These markets can also be divided into 3 groups based on average export prices per pair of shoes. Poland, a member of the European Union, is the market with the highest average export price per pair of US$25. Prices for exports to Kazakhstan and Belarus are relatively close to average world prices in Russia. And finally, with an average price of $3,65 and $2,5 respectively, Ukraine and Kyrgyzstan are well below the average export price of Russia.

Top 5 footwear export markets in Russia

Russian footwear exports are quite diverse: rubber and plastics, as well as textile footwear, are the most exported types of footwear, representing about 30% of exports. They are followed by leather and waterproof shoes, each accounting for about 15% of exports.

Kazakhstan is the main export market for all types of footwear, with the exception of leather footwear, in which Belarus leads with a value share of 39%. Unlike imports, exports are not as concentrated in one country. Despite the leading position of Kazakhstan in most types of footwear, its value share never exceeds 50%, remaining close to 40% for rubber, plastic and leather footwear.

Interestingly, Kyrgyzstan, which is one of the top 5 export partners of Russia, is only in the top 5 export partners for waterproof footwear, which accounts for almost a quarter of the value share. On the contrary, Georgia, Armenia, France and China, which appear as the main export partners for a certain type of footwear, are not among the top 5 export partners of Russia.

Comparing the value of exports and imports, we can conclude that the Russian footwear trade balance is noticeably negative, since the country imports much more than it exports.