Leather, leather goods and footwear exports from the country reached a 10-year-high in the just concluded fiscal year of 2021-22, thanks to arrival of orders that shifted away from competitors, according to industry insiders.
Exports were at a record high of $1,245 million in fiscal 2021-22 as importing countries reduced their dependency on China and other producing nations amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
Besides, there are new products and innovations in the local industry, they said.
Exports were at their lowest point in the last decade during fiscal 2012-13, when $979 million worth of leather products were shipped abroad.
The last time exports came close to the current record was in fiscal 2016-17, when international buyers purchased $1,234 million worth of leather products from the country, as per data from the Export Promotion Bureau.
Buyers are reducing their dependence on China considering the current state of the global economy, which is recovering from Covid-19 at a time when the Russia-Ukraine war has disrupted the global supply chain.
Leather goods are one of the top three highest export earning sectors of the country.
Meanwhile, the government is drawing up a ten-year perspective plan that includes a target to increase the leather sector's export earnings to $10-$12 billion by 2030.
The global leather goods market size is anticipated to reach $624.08 billion by 2028, registering a CAGR of about 5.9% over the forecast period, according to a report by Grand View Research.
