FOOTWEAR MARKET IN TURKEY 

Turkey’s footwear industry has developed at a rapid pace due to modern manufacturing

processes, the availability of major quality raw materials, skilled workers and high design

capacity. Today the Turkish footwear industry has a strong position among exporters of

high quality fashion goods. Another sign of positive development is the increase in foreign

investments in the sector.

It is obvious that the footwear industry is extremely dependent on the leather industry of

Turkey. The Turkish leather industry, which has a history of 500 years, is becoming a

leading center in the world leather industry. The Turkish leather industry, which occupies a

prominent place in the Turkish economy, continues to develop day by day by combining

new technology and its historical background.

Although the initial efforts to modernize the leather industry began in the 70s, significant

progress at a real industrial scale began in the mid-80s. At present, there are three

organized leather industry zones in Turkey. In addition, eight organized leather industry

zones are under construction. The sector produces according to international standards

and is becoming more sensitive to health and the environment – about 90% of the

production is based on health and environmental standards.

Leather is one of Turkey’s leading export sectors. The export figure of the leather sector

for 2011 was about US$ 1.262 million.

PRODUCTION

The shoe industry, which began to appear as a small-size industry in 1950, is a welldeveloped

industry now. Especially in the 1980s, significant investments in machinery

parks were made and now, over 15% of the sector has completed its industrialization

process. About 70% of the production in the sector is carried out by semi-mechanized

production processes and almost 15% of production is hand-made.

According to Turkish State Institute of Statistics, the footwear industry employs 26.954

people and the industry has about 4.753 companies which are manufacturing various

shoes and slippers. Almost 50% of the total number of companies is active in Istanbul.

Konya, Ankara, Gaziantep, Manisa, Denizli, Adana, Malatya and Corum (Iskilip) are other

important shoe production centers in Turkey.

The production capacity of the 33 leading companies in the sector is 328.100 pairs daily.

In addition, there are many small and medium-size establishments in the sector.

Turkey’s shoe production reached 212 million pairs. Almost 26% of the production consists

of leather shoes. In addition, there has been a rapid increase in the manufacture of plastic

shoes and slippers.

The footwear sector relies on Turkish-made shoe production machinery, as well as shoe

parts. The share of the shoe parts industry in the total shoe industry production is around

5% and production is quite diversified. The soles, heels, casting molds and the welt of the

shoes are exported. The shoe parts industry is located in Izmir and the Aegean region,

Konya, Gaziantep and in particular Istanbul.

The military boots, work and safety shoes production in Turkey have developed

significantly in recent years. These sectors make production according to international

standards, and shoes with the CE mark are exported to the European countries.

The footwear sector closely follows the latest trends in the fashion world. Turkish shoe

companies prepare their own collections for every season according to fashion trends both

in Turkey and the world.

The industry is now concentrating its efforts on training and design. In this context, with the

initiative of shoe industry, the Turkish Shoe Industry Research, Development and

Education Foundation was established in 2001. In order to meet the need of qualified

personal in shoe design, a new department of education, “The Shoe Design Department”

has been opened at Mimar Sinan University in Istanbul, which offers two-year courses. In

addition to these, every year, various shoe design competitions are being organized in

order to discover new talents in the field of design. 

EXPORTS 

Today the Turkish footwear sector has the capacity of creating its own brands and fashion.

The performance of the sector largely depends on exports. The Turkish shoe sector had

an export value of US$ 441 millions in the year 2011.

Major markets for the Turkish made shoes are the Russian Federation, Iraq, Saudi Arabia,

Germany, Bulgaria, the United Kingdom, France, Italy, the Netherlands and Romania.

Shoes made with leather coated outer surface make up 50% of shoe exports and had a

value of US$ 200 million in 2011. Russia is currently the most important market of Turkish

leather shoes. The second important group consists of rubber or plastic materials coated

outer soles and surface with an export value of US$ 100.9 million in 2010.

TRADE FAIRS 

The Turkish footwear sector takes part in important international fairs and exhibitions

abroad. GSD Shoe Fair-Düsseldorf/Germany, Motexha Spring Fair-Dubai/U.A.E.,

Mosshoes Moscow/Russia, Micam Shoeevent /Milano and Lineapella-Italy are the most

attended ones.

As an important footwear producer/exporter country, many fairs are also held in Turkey in

the related sector every year. Major fairs in the Turkish footwear industry in 2013 are as

follows:

Trade Fairs in Turkey

Fair City Organizer Date

Footwear Summer- Izmir Shoes,

Bags And Accessories Fair Izmir www.izfas.com.tr January 2013

AYSAF 10th International Footwear

Industry Suppliers Fair Istanbul www.pozitiffuarcilik.com March 2013

AYMOD 10th International

Footwear Fashion Fair Istanbul www.pozitiffuarcilik.com April 2013

Footwear Winter-Izmir Shoes,

Bags And Accessories Fair Izmir www.izfas.com.tr June 2013

GAPSHOES 11th Footwear,

Slipper, Saddlery And Footwear

Industry Suppliers Fair

Gaziantep www.ofm.com.tr July 2013

AYSAF 11th International Footwear

Industry Suppliers Fair Istanbul www.pozitiffuarcilik.com October 2013

AYMOD 11th International

Footwear Fashion Fair Istanbul www.pozitiffuarcilik.com November 2013

GAPSHOES 18th Footwear,

Slipper, Saddlery And Footwear

Industry Suppliers Fair

Gaziantep www.ofm.com.tr December 2013 

Source: http://www.fuarrehberi.org.tr/ 

TAGS:Turkish footwear sector , Turkish footwear exporters, Turkish footwear suppliers,buy footwear in Turkey, import footwear in Turkey