Shoes: Paradigma
Photo: Carmo Amorim
Concept: Joaquim Szkutnik da Rocha
The year that ended saw a strong consolidation of Portuguese footwear in foreign markets. The industry grew and multiplied. But do you already know everything about our footwear? These are the facts that you should keep in mind.
In 2022, Portugal produced 85 million pairs of shoes. Service excellence, production quality and responsiveness are the main assets of an industry that has grown 12.6% since 2012.
The Portuguese footwear industry exported last year 76 million pairs of shoes, worth 2.009 million euros. Compared to the prior year, these figures reflect a growth of 20.2% in value and 10.5% in volume.
Last year, Portuguese footwear reached 174 countries. Exports amount now to more than 95% of production. Belize is the latest stamp in the passport of Portuguese footwear exports.
Concerning yet international trade, Germany, France, and the Netherlands are, in this order, the benchmark markets for Portuguese footwear. National footwear concentrates 80% of its foreign sales in Europe.
Over the prior year, Portugal exported 114 million euros of footwear for the “States”. The US is the market where Portuguese footwear has shown better indicators in the recent past. In 2022, grew by 52%.
The average price of Portuguese footwear stood at 26.40 euros at the end of 2022. Compared with the previous year, there was an increase of 8.73%. In the last decade, the average price increased by 16.5%.
The Portuguese footwear industry specializes in the exports of leather shoes. By now, it accounts for 86% of the sector’s sales abroad, at an average price of 32.94 euros. Portugal also exported 52 million euros in the segment of waterproof footwear (average price of 11.81 euros): it is the one with the better performance in the recent past.
In 2022, the footwear sector hired 1 478 new employees. At the end of the year, the 1 186 companies in the sector (up by 4.2% as compared to 2021) employed 32 292 workers.
