Brazil's January footwear exports totaled 14.63 million pairs with a value of US$117.9 million. Both the volume (+4.5%) and value (+16.6%) are higher compared to January last year.
According to the data, prepared by the Brazilian Association of Footwear Industries (Abicalçados), the increase in exports to the European Union more than offset declines logged for sale to the United States and Argentina, which are historically the two main destinations for Brazilian footwear.
“The deceleration of inflation in the region tends to gradually benefit the consumption of non-essential goods, such as shoes,” says Abicalçados chief executive Haroldo Ferreira. Exports to the EU were up by 29% in revenue and 27.9% in volume. Ferreira also notes that the IMF revised upward the Euro Zone GDP growth projection, which should vary by 0.7% in 2023, compared to the earlier forecast of 0.5%.
Even with the declines compared to January 2022, the United States was still the main destination for Brazilian footwear. In January, 1.26 million pairs were shipped there for US$23.4 million, lower both in volume (-28%) and revenue (-9.5%) compared to the same month last year.
In January, Bolivia overtook Argentina as the second destination for Brazilian footwear. The country purchased 735,600 pairs for US$ 12.8 million, lower by 5.5% in volume but higher by 92.3% in revenue compared to January 2022.
Argentina was third (2 million pairs and US$ 6.9 million, increases of 147.6% in volume and 137.8% in revenue in relation to last January) followed by Spain (584,500 pairs and US$ 6 million, a drop of 23% in volume and an increase of 8.8% in revenue compared to the same period of 2022).
