Until September, Portugal exported 53.3 million pairs of shoes worth 1,321.7 million euros, 3.8% more in quantity and 2.1% in value compared to the same period last year, the sector association announced this Tuesday, 25th.
In a statement, the Portuguese Association of Footwear, Components, Leather Articles and Their Substitutes (APICCAPS) states that the sector “consolidated in September the growth cycle observed throughout 2025, reinforcing its position in the main international markets” and gaining share compared to the main competitors.
Highlighting the “strong competitive capacity of the sector in a challenging international context marked by instability in strategic markets, such as Germany or France”, APICCAPS highlights the growth of safety footwear (+17% in value), children’s footwear (+6%) and footwear made from textile materials (+18.8%).
Leather footwear, the main aggregate of Portuguese exports, “maintained stability in value, countering the global environment of strong pressure on margins and average prices”.
In the first nine months of the year, Europe continued to be the main destination for Portuguese footwear, absorbing around 80% of exports, with sales to the European market growing by 5.9% in quantity (to 47 million pairs) and 4.4% in value (to 1,098 million euros).
The association highlights the increases recorded in Germany (+11.3%, to 372 million euros) and Spain (+20.6%, to 139 million euros), while France, a “historically central” market for the sector, recorded a slight decline of 0.4%, to 263 million euros.
Outside Europe, the recovery continued in the United States, after a start of the year “marked by strong volatility”.
Although this market still registered a decline of 7.9% until September, it is already far from the most pronounced drops of the first quarter.
In Asian markets, APICCAPS points to growth in South Korea (+18.2%) and Japan (+4.8%), with sales to both of these markets approaching three million euros.
Quoted in the statement, the president of the association considers that these results “reflect the enormous adaptability of Portuguese industry in a time of great complexity”.
Stating that the national industry “knew how to quickly adjust to new consumption dynamics”, Luís Onofre emphasizes that “the sector is, following ongoing investments, more prepared to compete globally”.
For APICCAPS, data from September assumes “special relevance in confirming the reversal of the negative trend recorded in 2024 and in consolidating the recovery trajectory that began at the beginning of 2025”.
Something that, emphasizes Onofre, “does not happen by chance”, but “is the result of a collective strategy and a strong investment”.
With these results, the association leader believes that 2025 will end as “a year of stabilization and strategic repositioning”, marking “a new cycle of international affirmation for the Portuguese footwear industry”, in a period that “is being very difficult for the footwear sector on an international level”.
In this regard, the association emphasizes the fact that Portuguese ‘performance’ continues to surpass that of its competitors, which has allowed it to gain market share.
According to Eurostat data, until August, Italian industry fell by 1.3% and Spain by 3.3%, while Turkey recorded an accumulated drop in exports of around 13%.
As for the biggest international player in the sector, China, which has a share of world production of 56%, was falling 9.1% between January and September.