Bangladesh has become the world’s seventh-largest footwear producer, making about 554 million pairs in 2025 and capturing 2.3% of global output, according to the World Footwear Yearbook 2026, as industry leaders eye $5 billion in annual leather and footwear exports by 2030.
The yearbook, published by the Portuguese Footwear, Components and Leather Goods Manufacturers’ Association (APICCAPS), said global production slipped 0.1% to 24.6 billion pairs last year after rising nearly 10% in 2024. Asian countries made 88.7% of all shoes worldwide.
China remained the largest producer with 13.66 billion pairs, or 55.6% of the total. India followed with 3 billion pairs and Vietnam made 1.658 billion. Brazil, Indonesia and Pakistan ranked fourth to sixth, while Turkey, Cambodia and Mexico completed the top 10.
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Bangladesh earned about $1.23 billion from footwear exports in fiscal 2025-26, according to Export Promotion Bureau data. The wider leather, leather goods and footwear sector generates roughly $1.76 billion. Industry leaders say that could reach $5 billion by 2030 if the country improves infrastructure, strengthens environmental compliance and moves into higher-value manufacturing.
The Footwear, Leathergoods & Accessories Exporters Association said lifting Bangladesh’s share of the global non-leather footwear market to 5% could generate about $3.5 billion in exports.
Despite its manufacturing strength, Bangladesh is not among the world’s top 10 footwear exporters. China shipped about 9.01 billion pairs last year, but its share of global exports fell to 61.2% from 69.1% in 2016 as rising labour costs and trade wars pushed buyers elsewhere. Vietnam now holds 11.2% of global exports.
Changing sourcing patterns could help Bangladesh win more orders as buyers diversify, if it invests heavily in modern, efficient factories, product innovation and workforce skills. European exporters earned an average $34.76 per pair against $8.02 in Asia, a value gap Bangladesh must narrow.