The roots of the Turkish leather industry go back to the 12th century. More recently however, since the 1970s, the importance of the leather industry has been recognised. There has been marked progress as a result of the export-led growth policy of the 1980s. Following the disintegration of the Eastern block in the 1990s, strong demand has come from these countries. This development led to increasing investment in the industry and growing production capacity. Exports boomed between 1980-1997 as the industry became one of Turkey's leading export industries. Unfortunately, the economic crises of 1997 in Asia, and Russia in 1998, led to a decline in both production and export. Though there has been an increase in production as a consequence of increase in domestic demand through 2000, the economic crisis of 2001 has halted the resurgence. Therefore, the export of leather industry has illustrated an unsustainable pattern and thus its potential has not been reflected to the reality during the period of 1998-2007. Despite all these negative developments, the leather industry still has a significant place in Turkish economy concerning its weight in production, employment and export. The industry has a share of 1% of the country's GDP, 2.3% of total industrial production and 1.5 % of registered manufacturing employment. Leather industry realised $1.3 billion export in 2008, which shows 3.9% rise compared to the previous year. The contribution of the industry to the export earnings becomes more if the cargo trade and touristic selling are taken into consideration. The export to the EU countries stands for 46.2% of the total leather and leather articles export. The main markets in terms of countries and their shares are Russian Federation (24.5%), Germany (9.5%), Italy (5.3%), France (5.2%) and UK (4.9%). When we look at the shares of product groups of the leather industry in total leather exports, footwear exports stand for 27% of the total leather export while leather garments 26%, ready-wear of double face sheepskins 19%, saddlery for 15% and raw hides / skins and finished leather for 13% of Turkey’s total leather export. Turkey is one of the leading countries of the leather and leather products in both production and export. With its high export performance Turkish leather industry has taken an important proportion of the world leather trade. For instance, based on product types, Turkey is the 7th supplier of leather garments in world trade with 4.8 % share and 5th supplier in ready-wear of double face sheepskins with 5.8% share in 2007. Not only with its production and export but also with its quality and unique style, Turkey is accepted as a forerunner among the producer countries. A majority proportion of the industry's raw material is provided through import. The high value added products, which come out of processing, are exported by the industry. With its advanced technological infrastructure and environmentally-friendly production policy, the Turkish leather processing industry is accepted as one of the leading industries in the world. It is ranked as the third in Europe after Italy and Spain, in terms of production capacity.
There are 13 Leather Industrial Organised Zones functioning in Turkey that are intensified basically in the Marmara and Aegean regions. There are more than 3,000 producing companies dealing with export throughout Turkey. With its quality and elasticity in production Turkey is the number one among the leading leather clothing producing countries. According to the global statistics it produces about 1.2% of the total world leather clothing. In addition to this, Turkey is among the leading producing countries concerning both the production quantity and quality of fur coat. Having a long tradition in footwear production, Turkey is one of the leading producing countries in the world.
In order to go further and strengthen its leading position inleather world, Turkey has started to give priority to marketing, R&D, design and qualified workforce. In addition to domestic fairs, national participation has been organised to many international leather fairs through which the image of the country that is colored by the creation of fashion and trademark is presented to the world. The primary advantages of the Turkish leather industry in terms of production and export are considered to be: Close to the main markets, particularly the European countries and Russian Federation;
Short time of delivery due to geographic proximity;
Being a country of tourism;
Capability of quick-response;
Qualified and educated human sources;
Liberal trade regime including compliance with the EU’s technical regulations;
The capacity to create fashion, design and innovation for any market;
Elasticity in production;
Sensitivity about workers social conditions as well as environment and health.
