Fall in shoe production

SHOE production in Spain fell by 12 percent in 2005 to 129 million pairs, 3.1 million of which were produced in the Balearics. The value of the shoes produced fell by 11.6 percent to 2'151.4 million euros as opposed to 2'435 million in 2004.
The industry's figures for 2005 indicates that 247 million pairs of shoes were imported from Asian countries, which is an increase of 30 percent in comparison with 2004. The value of the imported shoes was 1'386.7 million euros as opposed to 1'145 million in 2004 (some 21.1 percent more). In spite of this fall, a quarter of the shoes made in Europe are Spanish. Spain is the second most prolific producer and exporter of shoes in the European Union and, according to the 2005 figures, exported 96.4 million pairs.