According to the latest research by the German agency Statista from November 2022, Russia is the eighth largest of the world's largest shoe markets. In 2021, its volume reached almost $ 11 billion, having increased after falling in the previous year. At the same time, depending on the season, the volume of supply of imported shoes on the market reaches 79.3%, and this indicator is also increasing.
In 2021, shoe imports into the country amounted to approximately $3.66 billion (compared to $2.89 billion a year earlier). Russia imported more than half of this volume from China alone — for an amount exceeding $2 billion. Vietnam, Belarus, Indonesia and Turkey provided about 25% of imports in total. 9% of all shoe imports to Russia are occupied by Italian manufacturers (however, in the category of genuine leather shoes, their share is about 20%).
However, in parallel with imports, the production and export of shoes from Russia also grew. The cost of shoes produced and shipped in Russia in 2021 exceeded 66.5 million rubles (for comparison: in 2017, this figure was slightly more than 48 million rubles). In physical terms, 107 million pairs were produced in Russia in 2021, more than 13 million pairs exceeding the output of the previous year. At the same time, the most produced category of shoes in Russia in recent years has been shoes with textile tops — in 2020, about 27.9 million pairs were produced, while shoes with leather tops — 20.3 million pairs, and sports shoes — 1.5 million pairs.
In 2021, the volume of shoes exported from Russia amounted to $ 253.38 million, an increase of almost $ 15 million compared to 2020. Thus, shoes worth more than 98 million dollars were delivered to Belarus, Kazakhstan took the second place in the list of export markets of Russia.
All market analysts agree on one thing: the events of 2022 gave the Russian shoe market a multidirectional vector of movement. On the one hand, many international shoe brands left Russia and this weakened retail, but pushed domestic production, not only of finished shoes, but also of components. According to the results of 2022, the footwear market of the Russian Federation as a whole was characterized by high dynamics and the maximum growth in market volume in recent years. On the other hand, the weakening of the ruble exchange rate at the end of 2022 and the real decline in household incomes weakened the demand for light industry goods, or forced part of the population to switch to purchases in a lower price segment.
The result of all these multidirectional trends was an increase in shoe production in Russia in the first half of 2022 by 7.3% compared to the same period last year. According to the center's research, if in February the volume of shoe production in Russia amounted to 11.5 million pairs, in March 13 million pairs were already produced, in April — 14.7 million, and in May — 15.2 million. The maximum revenue of domestic producers was recorded in March and amounted to 46.8 billion rubles.
In total, according to the largest operator of fiscal data "Platform OFD", the volume of sales of all shoes in physical terms increased in Russia by 15%. And in the first half of 2022, the number of retail outlets officially selling shoes increased by 19% across the country compared to the same period last year, including in Moscow by 3% and in St. Petersburg by 11%. In addition to the natural desire of major players to capture profitable locations left by the former anchor tenants, it suddenly turned out that at the moment there are already about 1,000 own brands of clothing, shoes and accessories in the country that can compete with brands that have left the domestic market (data from the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation).
In the shoe business, these new brands mainly position themselves in the premium and luxury segment, which, as we remember, has withstood the current economic turbulence.
