Leather is a durable and flexible material created by tanning animal rawhide and skins. The most common raw material is cattle hide. Leather is the earliest cultural product of mankind. The leather industry has a long history and is closely related to the development of human civilization. Ancient humans obtained beasts through hunting. They used sharp stone tools to strip animal skins to protect them from the cold, and later used to protect their feet. Tanning is the process of treating skins and hides of animals to produce leather. Tanning hide into leather involves a process which permanently alters the protein structure of skin, making it more durable and less susceptible to decomposition, and also possibly coloring it.

The raw materials required for the tanning industry are animal skins such as bovine hides, fibers, and chemical raw materials. Therefore, the upstream of the tanning industry is the animal husbandry and leather chemical industries. There are two types of leather: artificial leather and natural leather. Leather products are mainly used in the manufacturing of furniture, car seats and interiors, leather shoes, leather apparel, luggage and leather goods.

The modern leather industry began to develop rapidly in the middle of the nineteenth century. The industrial center has long been located in developed countries with a high degree of industrialization and high socio-economic levels. In the 21st century, under the wave of economic globalization, the leather industry has gradually shifted to developing countries, forming a new pattern of global division of labor and cooperation and differentiated competition. The European leather industry represented by Italy, Spain, and Germany has been shrinking year by year due to the increasingly strict environmental protection regulations. Due to abundant raw material resources, cheap labor costs, and a broad leather consumer market, the Asian region has made great progress and has become the world's important raw leather and finished leather production base.

Global leather market was valued at 17.2 billion square feet in 2018 and is projected to reach 22.8 billion square feet by 2024, at a CAGR of 5% during the forecast period. The world's leather processing and sales centers have moved from Europe to Asia. Europe, represented by Italy, Spain, France and Portugal, accounted for 27% and 18% of the global leather output and raw leather output respectively. North America and Central America accounted for 10% and 17% of the global leather output and raw leather output respectively. South America accounted for 8% and 13% of the global leather output and raw leather output respectively. Asia accounted for 53% and 40% of the global leather output and raw leather output respectively. With the improvement of people's living standards and the diversification of living needs, leather will continue to be widely used in leather shoes, clothing, housing and automobiles in the next few years.

Key players in global leather market include: Garrett Leather, Winter Company, Buckskin Leather Company, Jinjiang Guotal Leather, ANTIC CUIR, SKM LLC, PELER ITALIA Srl, CHINBAR, Anhui Anli Material Technology Co., Ltd., Amway, Shandong Jinfeng Artificial Leather Co., Ltd., Arora Vinyl Pvt. Ltd., Filwel Co. Ltd, H.R. Polycoats Pvt. Ltd., Kuraray Co., Ltd. Mayur Uniquoters Limited, Nan Ya Plastics Industrial Co., Ltd., San Fang Chemical Industry Co., Ltd., Teijin Limited, Toray Industries Inc., Yantai Wanhua Synthetic Leather Group Co., Ltd. Zhejiang Hexin Industry Group Co., Ltd.