Synthetic leather market worth 85.05 billion dollars by 2025

New York - When did faux leather become all the rage? It has grown into an impressive business, with the synthetic leather market projected to be worth 85.05 billion dollars by 2025 as stated in a report by Grand View Research, Inc. The large increase in the market is primarily due to footwear. Leading focus towards animal rights led by several organizations and stricter laws governing real leather have propelled demand for synthetic leather.

Synthetic leather has also become a major competitor for real leather due properties such as durability, UV resistant, easy maintenance and high gloss finish. It is also more affordable, so it attracts a wider range of customers.

Synthetic leather does face tough competition in countries like Japan from Fumikodata, a replica of leather that is a cruelty free material.

Synthetic leather market seeing substantial growth

The largest product category in 2015 was polyurethane, which is expected to grow at the fastest CAGR rate over the forecast period. However, PVC's growth is expected to be slow because of its sticky finish and lack of durability.

Footwear application segment is expected to observe the fastest growth over the next nine years with an estimated CAGR of around 9.7 percent from 2016 to 2025. Cheaper costs, fluctuating climatic conditions in countries creating needs for several types of footwear coupled with rising disposable income levels are fueling the demand for synthetic leather in the footwear segment. Moreover, trend of incorporating athletic shoes in daily lifestyle is further augmenting demand of the application segment over the forecast period.

The report by Grand View Research, Inc. also pointed out that Asia Pacific is projected to witness significant growth in their synthetic leather goods sector because of rapid economic growth in countries including India, China, Japan and Korea.

While animal rights activists are pleased to hear this news, environmental activists are much more skeptical. While almost no product is complete free of any environmental cost, polyurethane is made from fossil fuels, meaning plenty of carbon dioxide is emitted during their manufacturing. Quality synthetic leather is known to last for a long time, and longevity of products does help lessen impact because customers don't need to keep buying.

Not having to constantly replace your products is a more green approach to fashion production.

photo: via Etsy.com