Footwear sits within Textiles & Apparel, a universal human need for clothing, and one of the largest employers in the developing world — a category whose own scale remains unverified (no global market-size figure could be confirmed against a primary source). Footwear is one of 8 of the category's 20 items directly backed by institutional trackers — CIRFS, USDA FAS, IWTO, APICCAPS, EDANA, World Bank WITS — rather than an editorial judgment call.
In this category
Footwear is 1 of 20 items in Textiles & Apparel. See the full ranked list, or browse all 20 Human Endeavors categories.