Footwear exports increase by 5.4% to 453 million euros in first quarter
The Association of Footwear,Components, Leather Goods and Substitutes considers this to be an average promising start to the year, in a particularly difficult international context.
Portuguese footwear exports rose 5.4% in value and 4.9% in volume in the first quarter, year-on-year, with 20 million pairs sold for 453 million euros, the sector association APICCAPS announced on Monday.
Quoted in a statement, the president of the Portuguese Association of Footwear,Components, Leather Goods and Substitutes (APICCAPS) considers this to be” an average promising start to the year, in a particularly difficult international context”,expressing”greater concern ” about the situation in the US, where sales fell by 12.7%.
“Although we already export more than 90% of our production to 170 countries, we consider the US market to be strategic and the Portuguese footwear industry’s big bet for the next decade,” said Luís Onofre.
Highlighting the “moment of great uncertainty” currently being experienced in the wake of the new customs duties announced by US President Donald Trump, the association leader considers that “the current situation is worrying”, but reiterates that the sector “will not abandon the market”.
APICCAPS points out that the United States “is the world’s largest footwear market”, importing almost 2 billion pairs annually, worth close to 26 billion dollars (24.9 billion euros).
Portugal’s sixth largest destination for footwear exports is the US market, which doubled over the last decade to approximately 100 million euros last year.
From January to March, Europe was once again the reference market for Portuguese footwear, absorbing a total of 18 million pairs (up 6.6%) worth 382 million euros (up 8.3%).
APICCAPS highlights the “good performance” recorded in Germany (up 18.8% to €114 million), France (up 1.3% to €96 million) and Spain (up 31% to €46 million).
On the other hand, it is “concerned” about the decline in the Netherlands, where sales fell 5.6% to 49 million euros.
Portuguese footwear continued to grow outside the European Union in the United Kingdom (up 9% to 27 million euros) until March. However, in the US and Canada, it fell by 12.7% and 14% respectively, to 18 million euros and 4 million euros.
In the first three months of the year, the Portuguese footwear industry exported 90% of its production to 170 markets on five continents.
According to the president of APICCAPS, “although there are many variables affecting world trade”, the expectation is that 2025 will be “a year of consolidation for Portuguese footwear abroad”.