Leather and Footwear Production in the World. Trends

 Leather and footwear industries in the 1970-1990 almost completely provided domestic products for the entire population of USSR, at the same time performing special orders for various departments of the country. So, in the late 80s. RSFSR shoe enterprises produced about 500 million pairs of shoes per a year as compared to 44.7 million pairs produced legally in 2003, which shows a reduction in the production of shoe products by more than 10 times.

The industry is an integral part of the light industry, which currently faces the need to actively search for ways to increase the competitiveness of its products. Only a steady stream of effective innovations is able to create markets for competitive products that ensure reliable and constant demand for domestic products, which can lead Russia's light industry to a level comparable to the global one.

 Footwear production is considered one of the fastest growing industrial sectors in the world. The share of this industry in the volume of world exports is about 1% in value terms. The largest manufacturers and exporters: Italy, China, Portugal, Greece, Tunisia, Korea and Taiwan. China leads in the number of shoes exported - over 2 billion pairs per year. In total, the world produces about 10 billion pairs of shoes per year, with about 62% in Asia and about 12% in Europe.

 20 years ago USSR,  USA, Italy and other developed countries were the leathers in the world footwear industry. In many sectors of the light industry of the world, a general trend has emerged in the allocation of production capacity: a decline in production in the countries of Western Europe and North America and an increase in developing countries, especially in Asia.