Table VIII: Footwear with Leather Uppers: Production, Trade and Availability by Economic Zone

Notes to Table VIII

World output of shoes with leather uppers now exceeds 4 300 million pairs, having increased by about 13 percent during the period under review. Production in developing countries rose by 120 percent, reflecting investment in manufacturing capacities, and their share in global output rose to about 75 percent from 39 percent. As in the case of leather, the expansion in leather shoe production was most marked in the Far East region and to some degree in Latin America. Production declined in all developed regions.

World trade in shoes with leather uppers expanded strongly with annual growth rates at 4.7 percent. Shipments from developing countries increased fastest at 8.7 percent per annum and their share in world exports rose from 39 percent to about 68 percent. Asian countries accounted for most of this expansion, reflecting the advances in industrialization in a number of countries. Europe had around 90 percent of the world export market in footwear in the late sixties, but it lost market share to the Far East over the subsequent two decades. The Far East now has 60 percent of global trade compared with 31 percent for Europe.

The developing countries' share in leather shoe consumption rose from 30 percent in the early eighties to about 53 percent. Per caput consumption decreased slightly at the world level, though in developing countries it increased from 0.3 to 0.5 pairs. Far Eastern consumers’ purchases per head increased while in Africa consumption remained constant. Divergent trends emerged in developed countries. In North America, per caput consumption of leather shoes remained constant. In Europe, per caput consumption appears to have decreased to 1.8 pairs annually, while apparent consumption in the area of the former USSR decreased markedly.