Portugal has overtaken Spain to become Europe’s second largest shoe producer in 2022.

The Portuguese shoe industry has overtaken Spain to become Europe’s second-largest footwear producer in 2022, producing 85 million pairs, two million more than its Spanish rivals, an industry association said on Wednesday.

Based on the 2022 results calculated by Eurostat, the Portuguese Association of Shoes, Components, Leather Goods and Substitutes (APICCAPS) notes that over the past decade, footwear production in Portugal has grown by 14.4% (from 74 to 85 million pairs). ), which compares with a decline of 14% (from 97 to 83 million) in the Spanish industry.

“Only Italy is better, although year after year it is losing ground to Portugal,” the association emphasizes in a statement, adding that “the Italian industry has taken a step back” and decreased by 18.6% since 2012 to 162 million pairs produced. in 2022 is “a far cry from the 199 million a decade earlier.”

The association emphasizes that “in practice, in Europe, only Portugal has increased its shoe production.”

As a result, Portugal’s share of European production increased by 34.3%, now reaching 17.1% of the total.

Taking into account all shoe production in Europe, it appears that over the past decade it has fallen by 19.6%, to 496 million pairs, compared to 617 million in 2012.

Quoted in the statement, the president of APICCAPS states that this evolution reflects “the continuous investment of the Portuguese footwear sector in defining an ambitious vision and adjusting public policies that have enabled the sector to reposition itself in the international competitive arena.”

“Regardless of difficult economic cycles, we continue to believe in the future of our industry,” says Louis Onofre, calling the investments planned before the end of the decade “the greatest proof of confidence in the future of the industry.”

“It is important to emphasize that within the framework of PRR we are implementing two large projects. [Plano de Recuperação e Resiliência]which involve investments of 140 million euros by the end of next year, and by the end of the decade, within the framework of the new Strategic Plan, we intend to invest 600 million euros,” he said.

According to APICCAPS, there are currently 6,381 footwear companies registered in Italy (down 25.8% over the decade), 2,808 in Spain (down 16.1% since 2012) and 2,428 in Portugal (down 5%).

These three countries together account for almost 70% of European shoe production.

Footwear exports from Portugal fell 11.3% in quantity and 8.2% in value in 2023 compared to a record year in 2022, with 66 million pairs of shoes sold for €1.839 million.

According to APICCAPS, “the international economic downturn, especially in important markets such as Germany, France or the United States, seriously hit the footwear sector abroad” last year.