The leather industry processes animal skin into durable material for clothing, footwear, automotive interiors, furniture, and consumer goods. It operates as a material extraction system that relies on large-scale animal killing, with the skin preserved, treated, and chemically processed for commercial use.

While leather is often framed as a by-product of meat production, its commercial value influences breeding, slaughter scale, and global trade. The underlying structure remains consistent: animals are killed, and their bodies are fully monetised across interconnected industries.

See it by species

This index includes species whose skin is commercially processed into leather within organised production and trade systems, regardless of geography, scale, or cultural framing.