Leather

The German leather industry has about 100 leather producers, including around 35 companies operating at an industrial scale, with about 2,500 employees. This makes Germany the third largest leather producer in Europe, behind Italy and Spain. Sales for the industry amount to around 500 million euros. 70 % of sales are generated abroad.

Leather is mainly produced for the premium sectors of the automotive and furniture industries, but also for high-quality shoe, bag-making and saddlery products.

Currently, 8 million square metres of leather are produced in Germany. 75 % of this is processed by customers in the automotive and furniture sectors, 15 % in the footwear sector, and 10 % is used for the production of premium leather goods and equestrian articles.