The German shoe industry is waiting for a radical stimulation of business. The decline in sales has been ongoing in the first six month of 2004, said the Association of the German shoe industry (Hauptverband der Deutschen Schuhindustrie).

The industry intends publishing figures in September, to coincide with GDS, the world’s largest shoe fair in Düsseldorf (September 16-19).  “The sales are dragged down by discounts and special offers,” said HDS Chairperson Philip Urban.

Industry and trade suffered from a “serious refusal to purchase” on the customers’ part. In spite of success with exports, it will be difficult for the industry to match last year’s figures. In 2003 the shoe industry produced sales of €3 billion, which were already 3.8 % lower than the figures for 2002.

German and European shoe producers see themselves under pressure because of the increasing shoe production in South East Asia as 78% of the world shoe production already originates from this region. The biggest shoe producer is China with 6.7 billion pairs last year (56% of world production). Shoe production in the EU hit one billion in 2003, which equates to a mere 9.5 % of the world’s shoe production.

Although more and more producers in Europe are relocating their production to the low-wage countries of South East Asia and then re-export their product, Europe and the USA remain the most important markets in relation to shoe sales. In spite of record production levels, China has a per capita consumption of shoes of only 1.9 pairs per annum, in comparison with 6.5 pairs in the USA and 3.8 – 4.6 pairs in Europe.

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