São Paulo — Tunisia increased its footwear sales to Brazil in the first two months of this year, according to data released by the Brazilian Footwear Industries Association (Abicalçados). In January and February combined, Brazil imported 3,416 pairs from Tunisia, up 216.3% from the same period last year, when it bought 1,080 pairs.
The increase was also recorded in value and in the average price per pair: in total, Brazil imported USD 64,400 in Tunisian footwear, up 236.1%. The average price per pair this year was USD 18.85, 6.3% higher than last year’s USD 17.74. These are average prices lower, for example, than those in purchases from the United States (USD 37.94) and Italy (USD 245.56), but higher than those from Indonesia (USD 17.58) and China (USD 2.54), in a sector where China, Vietnam, Indonesia, Hong Kong, and Paraguay are among the five largest exporters to Brazil.
In February alone, Morocco ranked as the 19th supplier and Tunisia the 20th. Morocco’s sales, however, fell 79.7% to 402 pairs in the period. Tunisian shipments totaled 116 pairs, a 74.1% drop compared to February last year.
Drop in footwear exports
In a statement released on Monday (9), Abicalçados said that imports continue the upward trend of recent years. In January and February combined, Brazil imported 9.7 million pairs of footwear, an increase of 23% compared to the first two months of 2025. Value-wise, imports totaled USD 109.27 million, up 12.1% in the same comparison. China accounted for 32.57% of the pairs the country bought abroad.
Exports, in turn, are down 18.9% in the year to 17 million pairs, totaling USD 135.34 million, a value 22.2% lower than that recorded in the first two months of last year by the sector’s exports. Even with exports falling and imports rising, the sector still posts a surplus for the year.
In a statement from Abicalçados, the institution’s president, Haroldo Ferreira, said the drop in exports is the result of instability in the international market, especially in the U.S., and a slowdown in the Argentine market, the two main buyers of Brazilian footwear. “There has been a slowdown in consumption in the Argentine market since the second half of last year, combined with intensified international competition for Brazilian footwear in that market, especially from Asian countries,” Ferreira said.
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Translated by Guilherme Miranda
