China’s footwear exports reached $15.76 billion in the first 5 months of 2026 between January and May 2026, a decline of 10.3% compared with the same period last year, according to the data released by the China Leather Industry Association (CLIA).
The latest figures show that China exported 3.49 billion pairs of footwear during the first 5 months of 2026, down 5.7% YoY.
China’s footwear exports stood at approximately $3.43 billion in May 2026 alone with export volume reaching around 740 million pairs.
Footwear imports totalled $2.07 billion between January and May 2026, down 3.0% YoY. Import volume stood at 59.5 million pairs, representing a 19.8% decline compared with the same period last year.
China imported approximately $400 million worth of footwear in May 2026 alone with import volume reaching around 11.54 million pairs.
When we look at China’s leather shoe exports alone it reached $2.53 billion between January and May 2026, down 10.1% YoY. Export volume stood at 190 million pairs, a decrease of 3.0%.
In May 2026 alone, China exported approximately 40 million pairs of leather shoes worth $550 million.
Leather shoe imports totalled $860 million during the first 5 months of 2026, down 2.5% YoY. Import volume declined 17.5% to 16.2 million pairs.
In May 2026 alone, leather shoe imports stood at approximately $170 million, covering around 3.23 million pairs.
The latest trade data shows that China’s footwear sector recorded declines in both export and import activity during the first 5 months of 2026, while leather shoe exports also recorded a double digit decline in value.
China’s leather industry, which includes the leather, footwear, leather garments, bags and cases sectors, recorded exports worth $32.75 billion and imports of $6.41 billion between January and May 2026. Exports declined 6.6% YoY, while imports increased 3.2%.\
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Disclaimer: The May 2026 export and import figures were calculated by Leather News by subtracting the January-April figures from the January-May figures reported by CLIA. The May figures are therefore calculated values and not separately reported figures.
