Counterfeit shoes cost Türkiye billions of liras each year

ISTANBUL

Counterfeit shoes are estimated to cost Türkiye, including tax and job losses, at least 30 billion Turkish liras ($927 million) each year, also hurting the footwear industry.

Many companies operating in the industry are reducing their capacity owing to weak local and global demand, while the annual counterfeit shoe production has increased to 200 million pairs.

Some 60 to 70 percent of the shoes sold at the stores in Anatolian cities are fake products, according to Berke İçten, the president of the Footwear Industrialists’ Association of Türkiye (TASD).

Around 40 percent of the fake shoes are sold online, while 60 percent are sold through physical stores, he noted.

“Counterfeit production has become an important problem for the industry, which also causes tax and job losses,” İçten said.

They had a meeting with government officials in February demanding a ban on the channels through which fake shoes are sold and heavy fines, he added.

Shoe production has become extremely costly due to the rising raw material prices, according to İçten. The cost of production exceeded the cost of producing shoes in Italy, which has led to the closures of some factories, while other companies have opted to reduce their capacity, he said.

A sneaker costs $11 to produce in Vietnam, but its production costs $17 in Türkiye İçten explained.

“A pair of leather shoes’ production cost is $15 in India and $17 in China. It costs $37 in Napoli but as high as $39 in Türkiye,” he said.

Shoes imported from Vietnam are sold at a cheaper price in the Turkish market, and that’s why shoe brands do not want to invest in Türkiye, İçten said.

The capacity in the industry declined by 50 percent last year while employment fell around 25 percent, which meant 100,000 jobs were lost, he added.