中文title: “Global Footwear Output Flat at 24.6 Billion Pairs in 2025” seo_description: “APICCAPS’ World Footwear Yearbook 2026 shows global output flat at 24.6 billion pairs, Asia 88.7%, China 55.6%, export value up 1.6% to $172bn. Full analysis.” seo_tags: [“World Footwear Yearbook”, “APICCAPS”, “footwear production”, “China footwear”, “Vietnam footwear”, “footwear exports”, “2025”] seo_slug: “global-footwear-production-2025-world-yearbook” source: “https://www.worldfootwear.com” original_url: “https://www.worldfootwear.com/news/global-footwear-production-holds-steady-in-2025/11670.html”
Global Footwear Output Flat at 24.6 Billion Pairs in 2025
The latest World Footwear Yearbook, published by APICCAPS, the Portuguese Footwear Association, delivers a deceptively simple headline: in 2025, global footwear production was virtually unchanged, inching up just 0.1% to 24.6 billion pairs. But beneath that flat top line lies a story of shifting geography, resilient value, and an industry whose centre of gravity is firmly — and increasingly — Asian.
A Revision That Changes the Read
The apparent stasis is partly an illusion created by data revisions. The 2024 figures have been restated to show robust growth of nearly 10% for that year, which means 2025’s marginal gain is measured against an unusually high base. In plain terms: the industry absorbed a big 2024 surge and then held its breath. International trade volume dipped a hair — 0.1% — yet the total value of exports rose 1.6% to reach US$172 billion. Volume flat, value up: that is the classic signature of a sector quietly moving upmarket.
Asia’s Grip Tightens
Manufacturing remains overwhelmingly concentrated in Asia, which now accounts for 88.7% of global production. China retains absolute leadership with 13.7 billion pairs — a staggering 55.6% global share. India cemented second place with 3 billion pairs (12.2%), while Vietnam increased output to 1.7 billion pairs, or 6.7% of the world total. Outside Asia, only Brazil (3.4%) and Mexico (0.9%) feature among the world’s top ten producers.
On the consumption side, Asia now accounts for 56.0% of all footwear worn worldwide, confirming that demand increasingly follows Asian consumers. But per-capita figures expose deep divides: North America leads with 4.6 pairs per person and Europe 4.1, while Africa averages just 1.6. China is the top national market at 4.8 billion pairs, ahead of India (2.8 billion) and the United States (1.95 billion). The African gap is, in effect, the industry’s largest untapped frontier.
The Export Realignment
China remains the dominant exporter, shipping 9 billion pairs, but its global export share narrowed to 61.2% in 2025 from 69.1% a decade earlier. Vietnam was the chief beneficiary, rising to an 11.2% share. In Europe, Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands operate as vital logistics and re-export hubs, with Germany holding fourth place among exporters by volume.
Pricing tells its own story. The world average export price recovered to US$11.65 in 2025, up from US$8.87 in 2016 and a record US$11.96 in 2023, though still below that peak. The spread is wide: Europe’s average export price of US$34.76 dwarfs Asia’s US$8.02 — a stark illustration of how production profile and value positioning diverge across regions.
Why It Matters
APICCAPS’ 16th edition, launched in 2011, now covers 84 markets and the evolution of the sector’s leading players. For tanneries, component makers and finished-goods manufacturers, the takeaway is twofold. First, volume growth is no longer the game; value, branding and premiumisation are. Second, the slow erosion of China’s export dominance — and Vietnam’s rise — reshapes where leather, soles and upper materials need to be sourced and supplied. A flat year is not a stalled year. It is a year in which the map quietly redrew itself.
Source: World Footwear
