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Surging retail spends in Mena to catalyse footwear and leather growth to nearly $28 billion

Mena retail market valued at over $800 billion currently is growing at 7.12% CAGR

On the back of robust retail spends growing at over 7 per cent CAGR, fuelled by an increasing affluent and young consumer base in the Middle East and Africa (Mena) region, leather and footwear market is poised to harvest a windfall growth of nearly $28 billion in the next five years.

In a statement by Verifair, organisers of the upcoming DIFLEX 2024 – the largest international footwear, leather products & accessories trade fair in the region - experts said rising purchasing power and disposable income, coupled with increasing demand for luxury products was driving growth in the region.

“The biggest driver for the growth of the leather and footwear industry in the region is the non-oil sector retail surge with the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia leading the growth trends. Moreover, the Mena region’s consumer demography with a lion’s share of youth in the population, increasing online commerce catalysed by solid digital infrastructure etc. are fuelling the growth in the segment,” said Rajendra Kumar Jalan, Chairman, Council for Leather Exports, a Government of India statutory trade body under the Ministry of Commerce and Trade.

India, which is the world’s second largest exporter of leather garments and fourth largest globally in leather goods worth over $5 billion annually is taking part at DIFLEX 2024 under the auspices of CLE with 50+ world class producers.

DIFLEX 2024 this time is bigger than last year’s with over 250 brands jointly showcasing over 10,000 world-class product lines and 300 hosted buyers from all over the world. It is anticipated that the show will receive over 4,000 trade visitors, a majority of them serious buyers from the region and across the world. Apart from India, participants at DIFLEX are from the leading footwear and leather producing hubs of Italy, Portugal, Egypt, Spain, Thailand, Pakistan, UAE, Jordan, Syria, Turkey, India, China, and many others.

According to Fortune Business Insights, the Mena retail market size currently is at $808.51 billion and is poised to grow to $1,401.32 billion by 2032, growing at a CAGR of 7.12 per cent.

“For the leather and footwear market, the retail expansion offers a bonanza to reap growth, and at DIFLEX, we offer an unparalleled vantage point for participants and industry stakeholders to enhance their market engagement through new partnerships and investments,” said Jeen Joshua, Managing Director, Verifair, adding that with the young population the regional markets are marked by rising awareness on fashion trends and penchant for online purchases.