Portugal has become the second largest shoe producer in Europe, overtaking Spain. According to Eurostat, Portugal produced 2022 million pairs of shoes in 85, two million more than its Spanish rival, writes worldfootwear.com.
Over the last decade, shoe production in Portugal has grown by 14,4% (from 74 to 81 million pairs), while in Spain, on the contrary, there has been a decline in shoe production by 14% (from 97 to 83 million pairs). Only Italy is doing better, although it is losing ground to Portugal every year. In fact, the Italian footwear industry has taken a step back, with production down 18,6% since 2012 to 162 million pairs of shoes in 2022 (a far cry from the 199 million shoes produced a decade earlier).
Only Portugal managed to increase footwear production in Europe: Portugal's share of European production increased by 34,3% and now accounts for 17,1% of the total. In contrast, shoe production in Europe fell by 19,6% over the past decade to 496 million pairs (617 million in 2012).
According to Luis Onofre, President of the Portuguese Association of Footwear and Leather Goods Manufacturers (APICCAPS), the growth of footwear production in Portugal is the result of continuous investment in the footwear sector and adapted government policies.
“Regardless of challenging economic cycles, we continue to believe in the future of our industry,” he says. As confirmation of this, there are plans to implement two large projects in the industry by the end of next year, investments in which will amount to about 140 million euros.
The head of APICCAPS also spoke about his intention to invest about 600 million euros in the footwear sector as part of a ten-year strategic development plan. “This is our biggest proof of confidence in the future of this sector,” concluded Onofre.
There are currently 6 footwear companies registered in Italy (down 381% over the decade), 25,8 in Spain (down 2808% since 16,1) and 2012 in Portugal (down 2428%). Together, these three countries account for almost 5% of European shoe production.
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