Turkish footwear exports +22.9% in 2021, for the first time at 1 billion dollars. Exports of leather and leather products reached $1.73 billion (TL23.6 billion), or 0.8% of total exports (Anadolu-AA data). Footwear's share of leather and leather goods exports was 58.3%, according to Daily Sabah, and although the increase in footwear exports remained below average, the sector's weight on total exports did not change.
By increasing its exports from $818.4 million in 2020 to $1.6 billion in 2021, the footwear industry has thus exceeded the $1 billion threshold it has been aiming for for some time.
In this area, shoes were followed by semi-finished and finished leather and fur products, with 15.4%, saddlery with 14% and leather and fur clothing with 12%.
Top 10 export target countries
Among the countries to which Turkey exports the most shoes, Russia is the leader with 82.5 million dollars. The country's share, which increased by 24.5% compared to the previous year, in total exports was 8.2%.
Iraq with $75.5 million, Germany with $70.1 million, Spain with $64.3 million, and Romania with $40.8 million followed Russia respectively.
Other countries, among the top 10 to which Turkey exports the most shoes, are Israel, the United Kingdom, Italy, Libya and the Netherlands. The most notable increase among the top 10 is in Libya with 58.8%.
This year's export target is $1.4 billion
Berke Içten, head of footwear association, Türkiye Ayakkabı Sanayicileri Derneği (TASD), told AA that he was very happy to have reached a record in footwear exports.
Içten said that Turkey has been on the radar recently, especially by global retail brands, and that there is a significant demand for shoe production.
Expressing that significant well-known brands want to buy products from Turkey, Içten said, "There is already interest in the International Footwear Fashion Fair (AYMOD) which will be held for 66th time this year. Especially European buyers have already started to book places for this fair. I think that our market diversity will increase even more and we will export more to European countries this year."
"If no serious adverse events occur, our expectation in footwear exports this year is $1.3 or $1.4 billion," said Içten, pointing out that the sector has the potential to reach this target.
"Our high quality and fast production power, our proximity to Europe and our ability to catch new trends make us stand out," he added.
"Despite the difficulties in procurement and supply of raw materials, and the pandemic, reaching the highest export in history shows how high our competitiveness is," he said.
Stating that they saw a clear increase in the demand for shoes, especially from Western European countries last year, Içten said that the market diversity has increased and that there has been a significant increase in demand in 2021, especially for sports shoes and non-leather women's shoes.
