In 2024, Portugal exported 68 million pairs of shoes to 170 countries. Even so, although it is Europe's second-largest footwear producer (behind Italy and ahead of Spain), the overwhelming majority of annual production is concentrated in Asia. This is a concern for the sector, and one that Portuguese footwear aims to address through investment and innovation.
At the Welcome to the Industry of the Future conference, organised by APICCAPS (Portuguese Association of Footwear, Components, Leather Goods and Related Products Manufacturers) and the Portuguese Footwear Technology Centre on November 18 and 19 at the Palácio da Bolsa in Porto, industry experts convened to take the pulse of the sector and discuss the challenges and opportunities in a context of technological, economic, and environmental transformation.
At the opening session, Luís Onofre raised the issue of mass production in Asia, which accounts for 90% of the approximately 24 billion pairs of shoes produced every year. For the president of APICCAPS, the current situation is “unsustainable,” but this could change: “We have the knowledge, creativity, tradition and technology to put forward a credible and competitive alternative to the mass-production model- Portugal has clearly demonstrated this ambition.”
At the Welcome to the Industry of the Future conference, organised by APICCAPS (Portuguese Association of Footwear, Components, Leather Goods and Related Products Manufacturers) and the Portuguese Footwear Technology Centre on November 18 and 19 at the Palácio da Bolsa in Porto, industry experts convened to take the pulse of the sector and discuss the challenges and opportunities in a context of technological, economic, and environmental transformation.
At the opening session, Luís Onofre raised the issue of mass production in Asia, which accounts for 90% of the approximately 24 billion pairs of shoes produced every year. For the president of APICCAPS, the current situation is “unsustainable,” but this could change: “We have the knowledge, creativity, tradition and technology to put forward a credible and competitive alternative to the mass-production model- Portugal has clearly demonstrated this ambition.”
