# Leather articles (HS2 42) Sector Trade Overview | Yugalinks

> Published by **Yugalinks**, global trade intelligence for growing businesses.
>
> [Follow Yugalinks on LinkedIn](https://in.linkedin.com/company/yugalinks)

Leather articles at HS2 42, with reported global trade through 2024.

Canonical: https://www.yugalinks.com/trade/sector/hs2/42

## Answer

The leather articles sector recorded $91.7B in reported global trade in 2024, with -5.4% annual change.

## Key figures

| Measure | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Latest reported trade | $91.7B |
| Latest annual change | -5.4% |
| Active exporters | 200 |
| Active importers | 200 |
| Active HS6 products | 20 |

## Annual trend

| Year | Global trade | Corridors | HS6 products |
| --- | ---: | ---: | ---: |
| 1995 | $20.4B | 6,722 | 20 |
| 1996 | $21.0B | 6,857 | 20 |
| 1997 | $21.2B | 6,849 | 20 |
| 1998 | $20.0B | 7,031 | 20 |
| 1999 | $21.6B | 7,282 | 20 |
| 2000 | $23.9B | 8,942 | 20 |
| 2001 | $24.3B | 9,166 | 20 |
| 2002 | $24.7B | 9,508 | 20 |
| 2003 | $27.8B | 9,803 | 20 |
| 2004 | $32.0B | 10,024 | 20 |
| 2005 | $34.9B | 10,353 | 20 |
| 2006 | $38.3B | 10,811 | 20 |
| 2007 | $44.2B | 11,177 | 20 |
| 2008 | $49.1B | 11,521 | 20 |
| 2009 | $41.8B | 11,596 | 20 |
| 2010 | $49.0B | 11,879 | 20 |
| 2011 | $60.6B | 12,127 | 20 |
| 2012 | $63.2B | 12,601 | 20 |
| 2013 | $67.4B | 12,715 | 20 |
| 2014 | $70.6B | 13,128 | 20 |
| 2015 | $69.1B | 13,238 | 20 |
| 2016 | $66.9B | 13,434 | 20 |
| 2017 | $71.3B | 13,670 | 20 |
| 2018 | $77.4B | 14,020 | 20 |
| 2019 | $80.5B | 14,064 | 20 |
| 2020 | $65.7B | 13,678 | 20 |
| 2021 | $81.1B | 14,412 | 20 |
| 2022 | $93.3B | 14,602 | 20 |
| 2023 | $93.9B | 14,672 | 20 |
| 2024 | $91.7B | 14,478 | 20 |

## Growth and market structure

- Trend: Growing
- Three-year CAGR: +4.2%
- Five-year CAGR: +2.6%
- Historical peak: $93.9B in 2,023
- Positive-growth years: 75.9%
- Exporter concentration HHI: 1,936.6
- Importer concentration HHI: 728.1
- Trade volatility coefficient: 0.5

## Leading corridors

| Rank | Exporter | Importer | Trade value | Growth | HS6 products | Distance | FTA |
| ---: | --- | --- | ---: | ---: | ---: | ---: | --- |
| 1 | China | USA, Puerto Rico and US Virgin Islands | $4.6B | -1.8% | 20 | 11,883 km | No |
| 2 | China | Japan | $2.2B | -1% | 19 | 1,763 km | No |
| 3 | France | China | $2.0B | -4.8% | 20 | 9,284 km | No |
| 4 | France | USA, Puerto Rico and US Virgin Islands | $1.7B | +3% | 20 | 5,852 km | No |
| 5 | Italy | France | $1.7B | +8.6% | 20 | 1,106 km | Yes |
| 6 | Cambodia | USA, Puerto Rico and US Virgin Islands | $1.7B | +9.8% | 19 | 14,215 km | No |
| 7 | Italy | China | $1.6B | -5.7% | 19 | 9,138 km | No |
| 8 | Italy | USA, Puerto Rico and US Virgin Islands | $1.6B | -2.7% | 19 | 6,907 km | No |
| 9 | China | Germany | $1.5B | +3.7% | 20 | 8,415 km | No |
| 10 | Viet Nam | USA, Puerto Rico and US Virgin Islands | $1.4B | +10.7% | 19 | 14,306 km | No |

## Leading exporters

| Rank | Country | Exports | Partners | HS6 products |
| ---: | --- | ---: | ---: | ---: |
| 1 | China | $33.2B | 200 | 20 |
| 2 | Italy | $13.4B | 175 | 20 |
| 3 | France | $13.0B | 185 | 20 |
| 4 | Viet Nam | $4.2B | 146 | 20 |
| 5 | India | $2.8B | 191 | 20 |
| 6 | Cambodia | $2.6B | 138 | 20 |
| 7 | Spain | $2.5B | 181 | 20 |
| 8 | Germany | $2.4B | 185 | 20 |
| 9 | Indonesia | $1.6B | 172 | 20 |
| 10 | Netherlands | $1.4B | 180 | 20 |

## Leading importers

| Rank | Country | Imports | Partners | HS6 products |
| ---: | --- | ---: | ---: | ---: |
| 1 | USA, Puerto Rico and US Virgin Islands | $15.4B | 172 | 20 |
| 2 | Japan | $6.4B | 114 | 20 |
| 3 | China | $5.2B | 143 | 20 |
| 4 | France | $5.1B | 170 | 20 |
| 5 | Germany | $4.8B | 151 | 20 |
| 6 | Italy | $4.0B | 128 | 20 |
| 7 | Republic of Korea | $3.7B | 129 | 20 |
| 8 | United Kingdom | $3.3B | 143 | 20 |
| 9 | Spain | $2.4B | 147 | 20 |
| 10 | Singapore | $2.3B | 137 | 20 |

## HS6 products

- Saddlery and harness: for any animal (including traces, leads, knee pads, muzzles, saddle cloths, saddle bags, dog coats and the like), of any materials (HS6 420100)
- Cases and containers: trunks, suit-cases, vanity-cases, executive-cases, brief-cases, school satchels and similar containers, with outer surface of leather or of composition leather (HS6 420211)
- Cases and containers: trunks, suit-cases, vanity-cases, executive-cases, brief-cases, school satchels and similar containers, with outer surface of plastics or of textile materials (HS6 420212)
- Cases and containers: trunks, suit-cases, vanity-cases, executive-cases, brief-cases, school satchels and similar containers, of vulcanised fibre or of paperboard, or wholly or mainly covered with such materials or with paper (HS6 420219)
- Cases and containers: handbags (whether or not with shoulder strap and including those without handle), with outer surface of leather, of composition leather or of patent leather (HS6 420221)
- Cases and containers: handbags (whether or not with shoulder strap and including those without handle), with outer surface of plastic sheeting or of textile materials (HS6 420222)
- Cases and containers: handbags (whether or not with shoulder strap and including those without handle), with outer surface of vulcanised fibre or of paperboard (HS6 420229)
- Cases and containers: of a kind normally carried in the pocket or in the handbag, with outer surface of leather or of composition leather (HS6 420231)
- Cases and containers: of a kind normally carried in the pocket or in the handbag, with outer surface of plastic sheeting or of textile materials (HS6 420232)
- Cases and containers: of a kind normally carried in the pocket or in the handbag, with outer surface of vulcanised fibre or paperboard (HS6 420239)
- Cases and containers: with outer surface of leather, of composition leather or of patent leather, n.e.s. in heading no. 4202 (HS6 420291)
- Cases and containers: n.e.c. in heading 4202, with outer surface of sheeting of plastics or of textile materials (HS6 420292)
- Cases and containers: n.e.c. in heading 4202, of vulcanised fibre or of paperboard, or wholly or mainly covered with such materials or with paper (HS6 420299)
- Apparel: articles of apparel, of leather or of composition leather (HS6 420310)
- Clothing accessories: gloves, mittens and mitts, specially designed for use in sports, of leather or composition leather, padded (HS6 420321)
- Clothing accessories: gloves, mittens and mitts, n.e.c. in heading no. 4203, of leather or composition leather, not specially designed for use in sports (HS6 420329)
- Clothing accessories: belts and bandoliers, of leather or of composition leather (HS6 420330)
- Clothing accessories: of leather or of composition leather, n.e.c. in heading no. 4203 (HS6 420340)
- Leather articles: of a kind used in machinery, mechanical appliances or for other technical uses, of leather or composition leather (HS6 420400)
- Leather articles: n.e.c. in chapter 42, of leather or composition leather (HS6 420500)
- Articles of gut (other than silk-worm gut), of goldbeater\'s skin, of bladders or of tendons (HS6 420600)
- Gut articles: catgut (HS6 420610)
- Gut articles: (other than silk-worm or catgut), of goldbeater\'s skin, bladders or tendons (HS6 420690)

## Definitions and coverage

Merchandise trade observations aggregated to HS2. Growth, concentration, volatility, and peak comparisons calculated from reported observations. Missing values remain unavailable and are not imputed.

Reported observations cover 1995-2024. The data release was refreshed 2026-07-20 09:34:08.

## Other formats

- [HTML](https://www.yugalinks.com/trade/sector/hs2/42/index.html)
- [JSON](https://www.yugalinks.com/trade/sector/hs2/42/index.json)
- [JSON-LD](https://www.yugalinks.com/trade/sector/hs2/42/index.ld.json)

## About Yugalinks

Yugalinks provides practical trade intelligence for teams evaluating markets, suppliers, and routes. Visit [Yugalinks](https://www.yugalinks.com) or [follow Yugalinks on LinkedIn](https://in.linkedin.com/company/yugalinks).


## Explore Yugalinks

- [Open the trade workspace](https://www.yugalinks.com/app)
- [Read the methodology](https://www.yugalinks.com/methodology)
- [Review data sources](https://www.yugalinks.com/data-sources)
- [Check data coverage](https://www.yugalinks.com/data-coverage)
- [Read Responsible AI principles](https://www.yugalinks.com/responsible-ai)

## Data sources

- Primary trade series: OECD (2025), Balanced international merchandise trade statistics (BIMTS) - HS2017-6D, OECD Data Explorer (accessed on 2026-08-27). [OECD Data Explorer](https://data-explorer.oecd.org/) · [OECD Terms & Conditions](https://www.oecd.org/termsandconditions/)
- CEPII BACI bilateral trade flows (202601): [dataset page](https://www.cepii.fr/CEPII/en/bdd_modele/bdd_modele_item.asp?id=37) · [BACI documentation](https://www.cepii.fr/DATA_DOWNLOAD/baci/doc/baci_webpage.html) · [Etalab 2.0 Open Licence](https://www.etalab.gouv.fr/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/open-licence.pdf)

This page presents derived Yugalinks views of reported observations and calculated indicators.