Vietnam is frequently listed among the world’s top 20 footwear producers, with the Southeast Asian country now positioned among the top ten leading global footwear exporters, an industry association has said.

Vietnam is now officially the world’s second largest footwear exporter by volume, just behind China, the Vietnam Leather Footwear and Handbag Association (LEFASO) said, citing recent statistics from the World Footwear Association.

The country supplies more than one billion footwear products of all kinds per year, accounting for 7.3 percent of the global market share.

Vietnam is also the world’s second-largest exporter of sport shoes, and the No.3 global exporter of leather footwear. As for other categories, Vietnam ranks seventh on the world tally.

“Vietnam is selling all of these products at prices 1.35 to 2.8 times higher than China on average,” LEFASO deputy chairman Diep Thanh Kiet said.

Kiet said the U.S. remains the world’s largest footwear buyer, importing some 2.48 billion pairs per year, while China consumes more shoes than any country on earth at 23 billion pairs a year, or an average of 2.5 pairs per person.