According to Japanese customs statistics, Japan’s shoe imports increased by 12% to $588 million and imports from China increased by 11.95% to $388 million in the first two months of 2005 (January and February).
For 2004, Japan’s total shoe imports reached to $3.26 billion, an increase of 6.31% from 2003. The number of shoes imported increased to 519 million pairs, up 6.38% on the prior year.
However, although imports from China accounted for around 90% of the total volume of footwear imports, in terms of value, Chinese imports accounted for only 70%. The average unit price of shoes imported into Japan in 2004 was $8.66, whilst the average price of those imported from China was around $6.77.
