Buying a genuine leather item requires thoughtful consideration and keen eye of recognizing the quality of leather. For most average shoppers, leather is just leather. But, many of you know that isn’t true, right? Manufacturers often use different types of leather, depending on the end product.

As you are going to invest considerable funds for buying your favorite genuine leather products, you must know two things:

“What is the best place to buy leather?”

“How to buy the best leather?”

While making a final decision is up to you, the details provided in this leather guide has everything that will surely level up your knowledge to make the final decision.

But, before we dug deeper into various types, qualities, and features of leather, let’s first take a glimpse at the history of the leather industry and how it has developed over time.

Leather Industry
Leather tanning has been around for centuries. It’s one of the oldest industries in human civilization. Indians, Egyptians, Greeks, Chinese, and Mesopotamians had developed several different tanning processes centuries before industrialization. Leather was used to make intricate clothing articles such as footwear, gloves, and armor. It was also used to make buckets, bottles, and even weapons. The Industrial Revolution brought all kinds of new technological advances that made the leather-making process highly efficient, environment-friendly, and hygienic.

In 2016, the hide, skin, and leather industry exported more than $2 billion in cattle hides, pigskins, and semi-processed leather products.

Global Leather Goods Market

According to the Global Leather Goods Market 2017-2021 Report, conducted by Technavio analysts, the global leather market is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of almost 5% from 2017-2021.
In 2017, the total market value was $217.49 billion. It is expected to reach $271.21 billion by 2021.
This segment is expected to represent an incremental growth of more than $53.72 billion during the forecast period.
The sub-segment of global footwear market was worth $126.99 billion in 2016.
In 2016, the Americas registered the highest leather revenue of $83.67 million.
The global leather goods market size was $95.4 billion in 2018. It is expected to reach $128.61 billion by 2022 at a CAGR of 4.36% during the forecasted period.
On the other hand, a recent market report by Technavio claims that the global leather market will register revenue of almost $289 billion by 2022.