With positive trade balance

The footwear sector showed a trade balance with a net balance of around 17 million pairs, due to a higher export of footwear compared to imports. Thus, in 2020, 61.3 million pairs were sold abroad, surpassing the 160 destination countries. The entry of footwear, meanwhile, was 44.6 million pairs.

Within Europe, only Portugal was the country with a positive trade balance. In fact, the European Union had a negative balance of more than 1,355 million pairs. Specifically, Spain and Italy, Portugal's biggest competitors, faced negative balances of 11.1 million pairs and 101 million pairs respectively, reported APICCAPS, the association that brings together manufacturers and suppliers of the Portuguese industry.