Footwear - Footwear Industry

Footwear Industry

In Europe, the footwear industry has declined in the last years. While in 2005, there were about 27.000 firms, in 2008 there were only 24.000. As well as the number of firms, the direct employment has decreased. The only factors that remained almost steady was the value added at factor cost and production value.

In the U.S., the annual footwear industry revenue was $48 billion in 2012. There are about 29.000 shoe stores in the U.S. and the shoe industry employs about 189.000 people. Due to rising imports, these numbers are also declining. The only way of staying afloat in the shoe market is to establish a presence in niche markets.