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Keep reading...The much hoped-for recovery predicted in the spring has not materialized, and the German footwear sector appears to be suffering from substantial stagnation in the first half of 2024, with many companies predicting a significant drop in production. According to Manfred Junkert, CEO of the Federal Association of the German Footwear and Leather Goods Industry, “For this reason, the industry also sees little sign of recovery in the second half of 2024. It can even be expected that, due to the many additional bureaucratic burdens, footwear will be significantly more expensive next year.”
In the first half of 2024, in fact, the German footwear industry had a turnover of about 1.15 billion euros. In the corresponding period of 2023, total footwear industry sales reached about 1.17 billion euros, a slight decline of 1.7 percent. In the first half of 2024, domestic sales generated 877 million euros.
In the same period last year, the amount was about 860 million euros, a nominal increase of 1.98 percent. From January to June 2024, foreign sales were 273 million euros. compared to 307 million euros in 2023, a decrease of more than 11 percent. Of this 273 million euros, 167 million euros were sales within the euro zone (2023: 191 million euros).
The footwear industry will therefore face significant challenges in the coming months, continuing along the path of investment in digitization and sustainability despite weak consumer motivation. In particular, the industry is waiting for the right impulses from the government, with laws that will unleash the strengths of the economy, stimulating it, particularly with regard to small and medium-sized enterprises, and finally-as often announced-reducing red tape instead of increasing it. The governments in Brussels and Berlin are also called upon more than ever to ensure a level playing field for competitiveness. This is especially true of the online sales platforms provided by Temu and Shein. They intrude from the outside into the market, most often in a duty-free manner, and do not have to fear monitoring of compliance with sustainability standards.
