Leather Origins and Making
Where Does Leather Come From? From Farm to Tannery to Shop
Most leather comes from cattle raised for meat and milk. Follow the hide from slaughterhouse to tannery to shop, with sourced data on where it is made.
Leather comes from the skins of animals raised mainly for meat and milk, most of all cattle, which supply about 65% of the leather produced. After slaughter the hide is salted and sold to a tannery, which turns it into leather by tanning. The hide, the tannery and the finished product are often in different countries.
This page is part of our guide to where leather comes from and how it is made.
The journey in four stops
Footwear takes the biggest share. FAO figures put more than half of bovine hides and about 40% of sheep and goat skins into shoes.
| Stop | What happens | Fact |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Slaughterhouse | The skin is removed after the animal is killed, selected and salted, and sorted by size and color | – |
| 2. Curing and sale | Salted hides dry for 3 to 6 days, then go to tanneries | – |
| 3. Tannery | Preparatory stages, tanning and crusting, sometimes followed by a surface finish | – |
| 4. Product maker | Hides become shoes, upholstery and leather goods; skins become clothing and gloves | – |
Which countries it comes from
Raw hides come from wherever cattle are raised. FAO named Latin America the largest region for bovine hides, in data from around 2000 with projections to 2010. Hides are also traded across borders: in 2018 over half of US hide and skin exports went to China.
Rankings of leather producers are less clear. Wikipedia's main leather article names China and India as the leading producers, while its leather production article calls India the third-largest producer and exporter. Treat any ranking as approximate.
Business Insider visits the Chouara tannery in Fez, Morocco, where goat and sheep skins bought at a nearby market are cleaned, soaked and dyed by hand in stone vats. It shows a traditional tannery and its health risks for workers, not the drum-based chrome tanning used for most leather today.
Is leather a by-product of meat?
Sources disagree on the wording. The UNIDO Leather Panel calls hides and skins "more correctly a by-product" of animal production. US farm economists put all slaughter by-products at about 8% of a fed steer's value, with hides the largest share.
Animals Australia, an animal welfare group, argues that skin can be a significant part of an animal's sale value, so leather is a co-product that may help drive demand. Both views are shown here because neither is settled. For the cattle side, see what cow hides are.
Not all "leather" comes from an animal
Faux, PU and vinyl leathers are made from plastic layers on a fabric base. See how faux leather is made. For what real leather is made of once it leaves the tannery, see what leather is made of, and for the species, which animals leather comes from.
Good makers tell you the source animal. Leather Collection, for example, names the leather on every jacket page, mostly cowhide or sheepskin.
FAQ
Who is the biggest producer of leather?
Sources differ. One Wikipedia article names China and India as the leading producers; another ranks India third.
Do cows need to be killed for leather?
Yes. Cowhide comes from cattle in the food industry, and the skin is removed after the animal is killed.
HitKB Editorial Team
HitKB articles are researched from published sources, cited in the text, and reviewed before publication.