The EU leather industry

The leather industry in the EU plays an important role in international leather trade, and on the international marketplace, the EU tanning industry is the world’s largest supplier of leather. The industry of leather tanning uses the hides and skins, which are by-products of the meat and dairy industry. Tanning of leather is the process of turning the animal hides and skins into leather to be used for a large selection of consumer products. For the EU tanners’ production, the importance of the different outlets are as follows:

• Footwear, 41%
• Furniture, 17%
• The automotive industry, 13%
• Leather goods, 19%
• Clothes, 8%
• Other, 2%

(European Commission)

Since the European leather industry is such a large industry, it has great economic importance as well. There are around 36,000 enterprises in the leather and related goods sector, and in these enterprises, there are about 435,000 people employed. The sector of leather and related goods in the EU creates a turnover of EUR 48 billion (European Commission). This industry is crucial for the EU, since it employs a great number of people and generates an impressive turnover.

Even though the leather industry in the EU is a large and successful industry, there are also different obstacles and challenges. Beef production in the EU has dropped in recent years, which has affected the access to raw materials inside Europe. This means that the industry is dependent on access to raw materials outside of Europe. However, outside of Europe there are different export bans and restrictions in some countries, which becomes problematic for the leather tanning industry in the EU. The European Commission has formulated the initiative: ‘The raw materials initiative: meeting our critical needs for growth and jobs in Europe’ in order to secure fair access to raw materials (European Commission).

The leather industry is very large and as the demand for leather continues to exist, the industry will continue to play such a big and important role in the EU, creating jobs for a large amount of people.

European Commission: https://ec.europa.eu/growth/sectors/fashion/leather/eu-industry