Brazilian footwear exports increased 36.8% in 2021

In 2021, Brazilian footwear exports increased by 123.6 million pairs, generating US$ 900.3 million, indicating a turnaround from the second half of last year. In comparison to 2020, the outcomes are better in terms of both volume (+32%) and value (+36.8%).

The numbers are 7.4% lower in terms of foreign exchange in 2019 and 7.3% higher in terms of delivered volume. In December alone, 12.88 million pairs were supplied, generating US$ 94.64 million, which represents a 38.8% increase in volume and a 58.8% rise in income over the same month in 2020.

The figures are also greater than those recorded in December 2019, with a volume increase of 24.5% and a revenue increase of 17.2%. The data was presented by the Brazilian Association of Footwear Industries (Abicalçados).

Brazilian footwear exports | Jan to Nov 2019-2021 | TEU

Source: DataLiner (click here to request a demo)

Destinations 

In 2021, the main destination for Brazilian footwear exports was the United States. In the year, Americans imported 15 million pairs of shows, an amount woth US$ 228.57 million, up 62.7% in volume and 66% in foreign exchange compared to 2020.

The second international destination for Brazilian footwear in the year was Argentina. There, 13.4 million pairs were shipped, which generated US$ 115.2 million in income, showing increases both in volume (+73%) and in revenue (+58.7%) compared to 2020.

The third destination abroad was France, where 7.27 million pairs were shipped and generating earning of US$ 60.2 million, a growth of 3% and 1.7%, respectively, compared to 2020.

States

Last year, the Brazilian state that exported the most was Rio Grande do Sul. Having generated 45% of the income generated with shoe shipments, the gaucho factories exported 32.75 million pairs, which led to earnings worht US $ 403.8 million, an increment of 48.7% in volume and 38% in revenue compared to 2020.

The second largest exporter of footwear in 2021 was Ceará. In the year, 38.17 million pairs left factories in the state, generating US$ 210 million, up 15.8% in volume and 25.7% in revenue compared to 2020.

São Paulo appeared in third place among footwear exporters in 2021. In the year, São Paulo factories exported 8.3 million pairs for US$ 94.6 million, increases of 31% in volume and 41.7% in revenue vis-a-vis the previous year.

Paraíba was the fourth largest exporter of shoes in 2021, despite slower growth. Before 2020, 22.74 million pairs left Paraíba factories, generating US$ 57.7 million, indicating gains of 22% and 9.8%, respectively.

Uptrend imports

Imports of footwear, like exports, peaked at the close of the year. Brazil bought 2.3 million pairs in December, at a total cost of US$ 20 million. In comparison to December 2020, the volume and foreign exchange growth are 55.3 percent and 5.4 percent, respectively. Imports totaled 22.7 million pairs and US$ 287 million over the past 12 months, an increase of 7% in volume and a 4.3 percent loss in foreign exchange compared to 2021.

Asian countries continue to be the main source of imported shoes, with China being the country that saw the biggest rise in shoe shipments to Brazil throughout 2021, while not being the leading manufactoring source (it trails Vietnam and Indonesia).

In December alone, 1.53 million pairs were imported from Chinese factories, 294% more than in the same month of 2020. In the 12-month period, Chinese imports totaled 9.8 million pairs and generated costs worth US$ 36.67 million, up 58.4% and 3%, respectively, compared to 2020.

Vietnam was the primary supplier of footwear imports in 2021. In comparison to 2020, 7.74 million pairs were imported for US$ 149.5 million, a decrease of 20.7% in volume and 13.5% in revenue. Indonesia was the year’s second largest origin, with 2.46 million pairs departing for Brazil for US$ 47 million, down 14.8% and 0.7%, respectively, from 2020 figures.

As for footwear parts (uppers, heels, soles, insoles, etc) imports totaled US$ 24 million, 25% more than in 2020. The main origins were Paraguay, China and Vietnam.

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