Market overview
In 2021, 22.2 billion pairs of footwear were produced around the world. In comparison, global footwear production amounted to 24.3 billion pairs in 2019. Asia is responsible for over slightly less than 90 percent of global footwear production. This footwear is then exported all around the world, with Germany, Japan and France being among the largest footwear importers worldwide. The United States, however, stands out as the largest importer by a significant margin, importing roughly 2.4 billion pairs of shoes in 2021. In comparison, second-placed Germany imported about 631 million pairs of shoes.One trend in the worldwide footwear market is the increased popularity of athletic footwear, which is not just worn for playing sport, but also as part of everyday fashion. The sports shoes market has been growing rapidly in the last decade and is expected to be worth about 77 billion U.S. dollars worldwide by 2025. Again, the United States was the country with the highest revenues from athletic footwear in 2021, followed by China.