Although Portugal exports more than 90% of its production to 173 countries in the five continents, the US market is the Portuguese footwear industry’s main bet for the next decade. As a result, 23 national companies will be attending the Atlanta Shoe Market in the US in August.
The Portuguese delegation to the Atlanta fair, to be held from the 10th to the 12th of August, will consist of 11 national companies, in addition to 12 others already represented in the country by their agents.
"This is our moment of truth in the US”, says Paulo Gonçalves. In the last decade, Portuguese footwear exports to the US have quadrupled to 100 million euros at the end of 2023. For the Director of APICCAPS, "In addition to consolidating our presence in Europe in recent years, especially in key markets such as Germany, France, Italy and the UK, we have made solid steps in the US, the largest and most demanding international market”. "We’ve conquered our territory, but we feel we’ve only just begun because we have all the conditions to become a reference player in the US”.
Strong investment underway
The Portuguese footwear industry recently overtook Spain to become Europe’s second-largest footwear producer. According to Eurostat’s final results, Portugal produced 85 million pairs of shoes in 2023, slightly ahead of its Spanish competitors.
Over the last decade, footwear production in Portugal has increased by 14.4% (from 74 to 85 million pairs), while production in Spain has fallen by 14% (from 97 to 83 million pairs). Only Italy fared better, although losing ground to Portugal every year. In fact, the Italian industry has taken a step backwards, falling 18.6% since 2012 to 162 million pairs produced in 2022 (a far cry from the 199 million produced a decade ago).
Paulo Gonçalves highlights that the investments currently being made in the areas of sustainability and Industry 4.0 (automation and digitisation) "are giving a new boost to the Portuguese industry”. The Portuguese footwear industry is already investing 140 million euros by the end of 2025. By 2030, under the sector’s Strategic Plan, it plans to invest 600 million euros in areas such as innovation, skills and internationalisation, as well as "in the creation of a new generation of products” such as biomaterials (such as fruit peels), natural materials (such as cork and wood) or recycled materials.
At the same time, the sector is working on areas such as energy efficiency, reducing water consumption and even eco-design. "There are 24 billion pairs of shoes produced every year, about 90% of which are made in Asia, meaning 9 out of 10 people wear Asian shoes. We don’t think it’s sustainable, on the contrary, we think there is room in the market for a small player like Portugal”, stresses Gonçalves.
"Accumulated know-how, development capacity, especially in terms of sustainable solutions, high quality at fair prices” are, in his view, the main assets of Portuguese companies.
The world’s largest market
According to the World Footwear Yearbook, the US is the world’s largest footwear market. The North American country imports 2,700 million pairs of shoes per year, valued at almost 37 billion US dollars (2022 figures).
The Portuguese delegation to the Atlanta fair, to be held from the 10th to the 12th of August, will consist of 11 national companies, in addition to 12 others already represented in the country by their agents.
"This is our moment of truth in the US”, says Paulo Gonçalves. In the last decade, Portuguese footwear exports to the US have quadrupled to 100 million euros at the end of 2023. For the Director of APICCAPS, "In addition to consolidating our presence in Europe in recent years, especially in key markets such as Germany, France, Italy and the UK, we have made solid steps in the US, the largest and most demanding international market”. "We’ve conquered our territory, but we feel we’ve only just begun because we have all the conditions to become a reference player in the US”.
Strong investment underway
The Portuguese footwear industry recently overtook Spain to become Europe’s second-largest footwear producer. According to Eurostat’s final results, Portugal produced 85 million pairs of shoes in 2023, slightly ahead of its Spanish competitors.
Over the last decade, footwear production in Portugal has increased by 14.4% (from 74 to 85 million pairs), while production in Spain has fallen by 14% (from 97 to 83 million pairs). Only Italy fared better, although losing ground to Portugal every year. In fact, the Italian industry has taken a step backwards, falling 18.6% since 2012 to 162 million pairs produced in 2022 (a far cry from the 199 million produced a decade ago).
Paulo Gonçalves highlights that the investments currently being made in the areas of sustainability and Industry 4.0 (automation and digitisation) "are giving a new boost to the Portuguese industry”. The Portuguese footwear industry is already investing 140 million euros by the end of 2025. By 2030, under the sector’s Strategic Plan, it plans to invest 600 million euros in areas such as innovation, skills and internationalisation, as well as "in the creation of a new generation of products” such as biomaterials (such as fruit peels), natural materials (such as cork and wood) or recycled materials.
At the same time, the sector is working on areas such as energy efficiency, reducing water consumption and even eco-design. "There are 24 billion pairs of shoes produced every year, about 90% of which are made in Asia, meaning 9 out of 10 people wear Asian shoes. We don’t think it’s sustainable, on the contrary, we think there is room in the market for a small player like Portugal”, stresses Gonçalves.
"Accumulated know-how, development capacity, especially in terms of sustainable solutions, high quality at fair prices” are, in his view, the main assets of Portuguese companies.
The world’s largest market
According to the World Footwear Yearbook, the US is the world’s largest footwear market. The North American country imports 2,700 million pairs of shoes per year, valued at almost 37 billion US dollars (2022 figures).
China has traditionally been the market’s largest supplier, with a share of almost 60% (equivalent to 1,600 million pairs), followed by Vietnam (market share of 24% or 654 million pairs) and Indonesia (market share of 7% or 195 million pairs in 2022).
The US is currently a strategic market for Portugal, the fifth-largest destination for its exports.