Analysis of China's Footwear Export Market in 2024: Fashion and Environmental Protection Trend

As a leading footwear manufacturing center, China's footwear export provides valuable insights into the trends, challenges and opportunities in the international market. In this article, I mainly introduce the current status of China's footwear export market in 2024 and predicts that the footwear brands in 2025 will pay more attention to fashion elements and environmental protection.

According to the "2024-2029 China Footwear Industry In-depth Research and Investment Analysis Report" released by China Research Institute of Industry, China's footwear companies are still very strong. After nearly 30 years of development, China has established a complete upstream and downstream industrial chain with its high-quality investment environment and labor resources in footwear industry.

China's footwear market is growing strongly.

From the table, in 2021, the size of China's footwear market was US$69.9 billion, a year-on-year increase of 9.91%. Among them, the size of China's footwear online market in 2021 was US$19.1 billion, a year-on-year increase of 13%; the size of China's footwear offline market was US$50.8 billion, a year-on-year increase of 8.8%. As Chinese footwear market is better than the global market and most other more developed markets, many foreign brands seek to expand their business in China by cooperating with experienced local brand operators to develop Chinese footwear market and formulate localized brands and marketing strategies. Among them, the penetration rate of the online market size of China's footwear industry in 2021 was 27.3%.

China's footwear industry has strong production and sales, with concentrated industries.

China is the world's largest shoe-making country and a major consumer. According to the National Bureau of Statistics, in 2022, China's shoe-making industry produced 13.507 billion pairs, an increase of 623 million pairs from 2021; the shoes market demand was 4.402 billion pairs, an increase of 44 million pairs from 2021. China's shoe manufacturers are mainly distributed in three provinces: Fujian (Quanzhou, Putian), Guangdong (Guangzhou, Huizhou), and Zhejiang (Wenzhou, Wenling). Shoe-making raw materials (nylon, etc.) of China's industrial chain are mainly concentrated in Heilongjiang and other regions, and textile fabric raw material companies are mainly concentrated in Jiangsu, Zhejiang and other regions.

Footwear industry has provided an important driving force for China's economic and social development. At present, China is the world's largest source of shoe technology. In 2022, China accepted 8,173 patent applications for footwear, an increase of 327 from 2021. In 2022, China's footwear industry maintained stable operation as a whole, with major operating indicators for the whole year showing great year-on-year growth. In 2022, China's footwear industry's sales revenue was 839.62 billion yuan, an increase of 104.03 billion yuan from 2021; the footwear industry's market size was 492.04 billion yuan, an increase of 26.34 billion yuan from 2021.

China's footwear industry has strong innovation, increased exports and improved quality.

China is one of the major shoe-making countries. In 2021, China exported 873,231 million pairs of shoes and boots, an increase of 18% year-on-year; the export value of China's shoes and boots was 47,934,694 thousand US dollars, an increase of 35.3% year-on-year. In 2022, China's shoe industry made an important contribution to the increase in overall sales, profit margins and international trade exports. Against the backdrop of the global economic downturn, China's shoe industry's international trade export profits have increased, showing that China's manufacturing is shifting towards high-quality development. In 2022, China's shoe industry exported 9.293 billion pairs of shoes, an increase of 557 million pairs over 2021; the export value of the shoe industry was 387.27 billion yuan, an increase of 77.84 billion yuan over 2021.

China's shoe export volume and price have both declined.

Based on the table, from January to October 2023, China's footwear exports were 734,409 million pairs, a decrease of 34,441 million pairs compared with the same period in 2022, a year-on-year decrease of 3%; the export value was US$40,850,316,000, a decrease of US$652,723,500,000 compared with the same period in 2022, a year-on-year decrease of 12.3%. In October 2023, China's footwear exports were 649,470,000 pairs; the export value was US$342,651,400. From January to October 2023, the average export price of China's footwear was US$5.56 per pair, and from January to October 2022, the average export price of footwear was US$6.16 per pair. In October 2023, the average export price of China's footwear was US$5.28 per pair.

From the above table, in October 2023, China's export volume of footwear was 649.47 million pairs, a decrease of 20.39 million pairs compared with the same period in 2022, a year-on-year decrease of 1%; the export value was US$342.6514 million, a decrease of US$96.8869 million compared with the same period in 2022, a year-on-year decrease of 20.3%.

Footwear innovation integrates fashion, technology and environmental protection.

In 2025, the footwear industry will be closely related to fashion trends, technological development, and environmental awareness. As consumers' increasing demand for comfort, fashion, and personalization continues, the footwear brands will launch various innovative products and designs. At the same time, with the development of science and technology, the footwear brands has also begun to apply various new technologies, such as smart wearables and 3D printing, to provide consumers with more intelligent and personalized products and services. With the improvement of environmental awareness, the footwear brands has also begun to focus on sustainable development and the application of environmentally friendly materials to promote the green development of shoes industry.