Year-to-date Chinese footwear exports are down, while Vietnam and Indonesia have grown. EU exports increased modestly, with Portugal performing better than Spain and Italy. US imports increased in value
The latest data compiled by APICCAPS reveals that Chinese footwear exports have been on a downward trend, a trend exacerbated since 2024. Between January and August 2025, exports decreased by 2.0% in volume to 6.05 billion pairs and 8.8% in value to 28.9 billion US dollars, as compared to the same period last year.
This contrasts with the continued growth of other major Asian producers, such as Vietnam and Indonesia, and to a lesser extent, India. Between January and July, these countries experienced year-on-year value increases of 9.5% to 14.1 billion US dollars, 13.6% to 4.2 billion euros and 3.7% to 1.4 billion euros, respectively.
According to the World Footwear 2025 Yearbook , this picture reflects both the evolving structure of China’s economy and ongoing trade tensions with the United States.
Some developments within the European Union are noteworthy. Even though the EU bloc as a whole recorded a 3.2% increase in export value to 29.3 billion euros in the first seven months of the year, as compared to the same period in 2024, some countries performed better than others.