China, India and Vietnam were the world’s largest footwear producers in 2022.

According to Brazil’s Grendene, global production totaled 23.9 billion pairs in that year.

How much did each of the leading countries produce, in millions of pairs?

• China: 13,047.
• India: 2,600.
• Vietnam: 1,500.
• Indonesia: 1,026.
• Brazil: 886.
• Turkey: 582.
• Pakistan: 519.
• Bangladesh: 467.
• Cambodia: 205.
• Mexico: 176.

The top five countries produced 19.1 billion pairs, equivalent to 79.7% of world production.

Footwear producers 

In the 1970s, Brazil was the largest footwear manufacturer in the world.

In Brazil, there have been manufacturing activities in the sector for more than 150 years.

Brazil has small, labor-intensive companies and is the world’s fifth largest producer in this sector.

There are approximately 5,300 Brazilian footwear manufacturing companies, with a total of 280,200 direct jobs generated.

Grendene

This company is one of the largest footwear producers in the world. 

Grendene has its own exclusive technology in the production of footwear for women, men and children and is fully integrated, with an installed capacity of 250 million pairs/year (800,000 pairs/day) in its four industrial units, consisting of 11 footwear factories, a distribution center, a matrix factory and a PVC factory for its own consumption in the production of footwear.

The company’s distribution logistics range from distributors to traditional and nontraditional retailers throughout the country and abroad. 

Grendene sells its products through sales representatives, distributors, direct exports, subsidiaries, and joint ventures. 

Its products reach 65,000 points of sale in Brazil and 45,000 outside the country, in addition to a separate sales area and selective distribution for the Melissa brand.