Spain’s footwear exports amounted to €2,056.5 million in the first seven months of 2024, up by 6.4 percent compared to the same period in 2023. Meanwhile, the number of pairs shipped to foreign markets amounted to 105.8 million, rising by 8.6 percent year-on-year, according to data released by Fice, the Spanish footwear association.
Among key markets, Spanish footwear manufacturers saw their sales grow in Poland (up by 17.6 percent), Greece (up by 14.1 percent), Germany, (10.5 percent), Portugal (7.4 percent), Belgium (7.1 percent), the US (3 percent), Ireland and Turkey, each up by 2 percent.
Meanwhile, exports to France dropped by 8 percent and those to the UK by 7 percent.
Spanish exports to Italy grew by an extraordinary 39.8 percent in value and by 62 percent in volume. “There is no explanation that we are aware of. It could be that the Italians started manufacturing in Spain or that they imported products from other countries to Spain and then shipped them to Italy,” explained Imanol Martínez, the Marketing and International Business Development Director at Fice.
Italy, on the other hand, is experiencing difficulties in footwear production right now.
Regarding the growth in sales to Poland, Martínez added: “We can’t rule out that shoes shipped there are then passed on to Russia.” This could also be the case for other Eastern countries such as Serbia, where exports are growing. The European Union imposed sanctions on Russia after its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
In the meantime, the growth in exports to Germany is a rebound following a recent decline, he noted.
Sales to the Latin American continent are also positive, especially for the e-commerce market. “It must be said that there is a new trend – but one that does not appear in the statistics – and that is that of purchases made by South Americans who come directly to Spain to buy. Madrid has turned into the new Miami, where affluent Latin Americans come to buy mainly clothing and fashion products, and therefore, also shoes,” pointed out Martínez.
He also commented on the decline in sales to Japan, which have halved since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, partly due to the devaluation of the yen against the euro. He noted that Spanish footwear now costs up to twice as much, while cheaper Chinese produced goods are “flooding the shops.” Furthermore, he added that Spanish shoes are also affected by high import duties in the Asian country.
Read the full story on our sister website, Shoe Intelligence.
