Turkish footwear exports have surged 22.9% year-over-year in 2021, exceeding $1 billion for the first time.
While Turkey's leather and leather products exports reached $1.73 billion (TL 23.6 billion) last year, the share of this sector in total exports was 0.8%, according to data compiled by Anadolu Agency (AA).
The share of the footwear group in the leather and leather products sector exports was 58.3%. Although the increase in exports of shoes remained below the average, the weight of the sector in total exports did not change.
Increasing its exports from $818.4 million in 2020 to $1.6 billion in 2021, the shoe industry has thus exceeded the $1 billion thresholds that it has been targeting for a long time.
In this area, shoes were followed by semi-finished and finished leather and processed fur products with 15.4%, saddlery with 14%, and leather and fur clothing with 12%.
Six of top 10 exported countries from Europe
While European countries stand out among the top 10 countries to which Turkey exports footwear, six out of 10 countries entered the list from Europe.
Among the countries to which Turkey exports the most shoes, Russia is the leader with $82.5 million. The share of the country, which has increased by 24.5% compared to the previous year, in total exports was 8.2%.
Iraq with $75.5 million, Germany with $70.1 million, Spain with $64.3 million and Romania with $40.8 million followed Russia, respectively.
Other countries that are among the top 10 countries to which Turkey exports the most shoes are listed as Israel, the United Kingdom, Italy, Libya and the Netherlands. The most remarkable increase in the top 10 is in Libya with 58.8%.
'This year's export target is $1.4 billion
Berke Içten, head of the Footwear Industrialists Association of Turkey (TASD), told AA that they are very happy for hitting a record in footwear exports.
Içten said that Turkey has been on the radar recently, especially by global retail brands, and that there is a significant demand for shoe production.
Expressing that significant well-known brands want to buy products from Turkey, Içten said, "There is already interest in the International Footwear Fashion Fair (AYMOD) which will be held for 66th time this year. Especially European buyers have already started to book places for this fair. I think that our market diversity will increase even more and we will export more to European countries this year."
"If no serious adverse events occur, our expectation in footwear exports this year is $1.3 or $1.4 billion," said Içten, pointing out that the sector has the potential to reach this target.
"Our high quality and fast production power, our proximity to Europe and our ability to catch new trends make us stand out," he added.
"Despite the difficulties in procurement and supply of raw materials, and the pandemic, reaching the highest export in history shows how high our competitiveness is," he said.
Stating that they saw a clear increase in the demand for shoes, especially from Western European countries last year, Içten said that the market diversity has increased and that there has been a significant increase in demand in 2021, especially for sports shoes and non-leather women's shoes.