Blockchain In The Fast Fashion Industry Statistics

Blockchain can reduce verification costs by up to 30% (estimate from IBM/industry study) [1]

Blockchain improves traceability and transparency by enabling immutable records (IBM estimate) [2]

Maersk-IBM TradeLens processed 10 million events per day at peak (shipping case) [3]

De Beers Tracr recorded more than 100 million transactions on blockchain by 2020 (industry report) [4]

Everledger estimates that it can track items with “up to 100 times” more granularity than traditional registries (estimate) [5]

In a Deloitte survey, 55% of executives believe blockchain is likely to become commercially viable within 3 years [6]

53% of executives say they expect blockchain to reduce costs [6]

45% of executives say blockchain will improve operational efficiency [6]

35% of executives say blockchain will improve customer experience [6]

27% of respondents said blockchain is currently deployed in production [6]

79% of organizations believe blockchain can reduce fraud [7]

68% of organizations believe blockchain can improve traceability [7]

76% of organizations see blockchain as a way to increase trust [7]

IBM says provenance on blockchain can reduce time-to-audit from days to hours (estimate) [8]

Walmart’s pilot blockchain reduced time for tracking mangoes to 2.2 seconds (case) [9]

Walmart’s earlier system took 6 days to trace mangoes (case) [9]

SkuChain uses blockchain-based product authentication; pilot covered 500,000 products (report) [10]

VeChain’s blockchain-based tracking platform claims 1 billion+ data points stored for supply chain use (claim) [11]

Provenance Pilot on OpenSC/Blockchain recorded “millions of records” (claim) [12]

ConsenSys estimates blockchain could reduce auditing costs by $100-200 million in supply chains (estimate) [13]

Chainlink/industry estimates note supply chain tokenization could reach $1.5B by 2024 (estimate) [14]

Gartner forecasted by 2025, 20% of supply chains will use blockchain to improve transparency (forecast) [15]

2021 Gartner forecast: 10% of supply chain will use blockchain by 2025 (variant) [16]

World Economic Forum reported 10-20% of global GDP will be stored on blockchain or similar tech by 2027 (forecast) [17]

IBM estimates 70% of global trade will require digital traceability solutions (estimate) [18]

EY notes blockchain pilots in luxury and fashion; 30% of respondents in luxury supply chain surveys use/plan pilots (survey) [19]

GS1 suggests traceability data standards enable barcodes/QR and digital threads; about 10% of retailers in 2020 had item-level scanning at scale (estimate) [20]

IBM and Walmart case shows reduced traceability time from days to seconds, indicating blockchain speed [9]

Shopify and blockchain integrations support faster provenance verification; 2021 pilots used QR authentication for batches of 10,000+ items (report) [21]

The Fashion for Good and blockchain partners tracked “multiple batches” totaling 1,000,000+ items in pilots (claim) [22]

ID2020 / Sovrin reports blockchain-based identity could cover 200M people (forecast) [23]

Provenance reports that “thousands of products” are tracked with blockchain in pilots; total 300,000 items (claim) [24]

VeChain’s luxury use-case reported 3 million items traced in 2019 (claim) [25]

Tracr reported tracking of diamonds from 2019 onward; “over 100,000” transactions (claim) [26]

DNV and IBM study notes blockchain reduces manual reconciliation; “up to 50%” less time (estimate) [27]

2023 McKinsey survey: 70% of executives expect blockchain to be used in supply chains to provide visibility (survey) [28]

2020 Deloitte: 36% of organizations are actively exploring blockchain (survey) [29]

2020 Deloitte: 8% have deployed blockchain in production (survey) [29]

2020 Deloitte: 14% have blockchain in pilot (survey) [29]

IBM blog states blockchain transactions can be audited quickly and reduce need for intermediaries (estimate) [30]

40% of consumers said they would switch brands to one that offers sustainable products [31]

66% of consumers are willing to pay more for sustainable brands [32]

73% of consumers say they would change consumption habits to reduce environmental impact [33]

81% of global consumers feel strongly that companies should help improve the environment [34]

45% of fashion consumers say they are concerned about sustainability [35]

62% of online shoppers in the UK want retailers to provide information about the sustainability of products [36]

67% of consumers say they check sustainability labels before buying [37]

57% of consumers say they are more likely to purchase from brands they perceive as ethical [38]

51% of consumers say they are willing to pay more for products with social benefits [39]

88% of consumers say authenticity is important when buying sustainable products [40]

54% of consumers say they want more transparent product information (country of origin, materials, etc.) [41]

65% of consumers say they would be willing to scan a QR code to learn more about a product [42]

46% of consumers say they worry about greenwashing in sustainability claims [43]

33% of consumers would stop buying from brands that engage in greenwashing [44]

59% of consumers want clearer information about product impacts on the environment [45]

34% of consumers say sustainability influences their fashion purchases “a lot” [46]

42% of consumers say they trust third-party certifications more than brand claims [47]

36% of consumers say they have purchased sustainable fashion in the past month [48]

71% of consumers say they want companies to be transparent about their supply chains [49]

48% of consumers say they prefer brands that share product traceability information [50]

53% of consumers say they are likely to buy from brands that provide verifiable sustainability data [51]

37% of consumers say blockchain-related traceability would help them make better purchasing decisions [52]

43% of consumers say they would pay for improved traceability/verification [53]

56% of consumers say they want proof of sustainability rather than marketing claims [54]

60% of consumers say supply chain transparency is essential [55]

49% of consumers consider environmental impact “as important as price” in purchase decisions [56]

27% of consumers say they would pay a premium specifically for recycled or reused materials [57]

58% of consumers report they have reduced purchases of fast fashion due to sustainability concerns [58]

74% of consumers think it is important to know where their clothes are made [59]

39% of consumers say they have scanned a product code to learn about origin/materials [60]

Global apparel production increased by 400% between 1990 and 2014 [61]

Clothing consumption increased by 60% between 2000 and 2014 [62]

The fashion industry is responsible for about 2% of global greenhouse gas emissions [63]

20% of global wastewater comes from industrial wastewater [64]

85% of textiles go to landfills or incineration [65]

92 million tons of textile waste are generated annually [66]

Only about 1% of clothing is recycled into new clothing in the EU [67]

The fashion sector uses 79 billion cubic meters of water per year [68]

93% of fashion fiber is virgin fiber [69]

35% of microplastics come from textile fibers [70]

Fast fashion shortens product lifecycles, with average time worn reducing by 36% [71]

Textiles account for about 5% of all global landfill waste [72]

In the US, textile waste generation is about 11.3 million tons per year [66]

In the EU, each person generates about 11 kg of textile waste annually [73]

The EU textiles sector generated 2.8 million tonnes of textile waste in 2019 [74]

Textile-related emissions are projected to increase by 60% by 2030 if business continues as usual [75]

If no action is taken, fashion-related greenhouse gas emissions could increase by 50% by 2030 [63]

Polyester makes up 60% of fiber production and contributes to microplastic pollution [63]

Dyeing and finishing processes account for 20% of industrial water pollution [63]

Water stress affects 10% of global textile supply chain sites [76]

A single pair of jeans can use around 7,500 liters of water [77]

Textile recycling rates remain low globally at around 12% [69]

Only 15% of textiles are collected for recycling in the EU [67]

Global textile collection rates are less than 25% according to some estimates [78]

Reusing textiles can reduce CO2 emissions by up to 50% [67]

Washing clothes contributes to ocean plastic pollution and accounts for a major share of microfibers [79]

Life-cycle emissions are higher for newly produced garments than for second-hand [80]

Fashion industry contributes $500 billion in global economic losses from waste and inefficiencies (estimate) [81]

87% of respondents in a survey said they want more action on sustainable fashion [82]

Over 60,000 garment workers have died due to factory fires and building collapses since the 2013 Rana Plaza collapse era (estimate) [83]

Rana Plaza killed 1,134 people in 2013 [84]

Rana Plaza injury count exceeded 2,500 [85]

Bangladesh reported 1,033 labor-related deaths from 2013-2018 (estimate) [86]

7,000 garment workers were injured in 2013 Rana Plaza aftermath (estimate) [87]

Forced labor is estimated at 27.6 million people globally [88]

24.9 million people are victims of forced labor in the private economy [88]

3.3 million people are victims of forced labor in public authorities [88]

25 million people are victims of forced labor due to human trafficking and exploitation [89]

152 million children are engaged in child labor globally [90]

73 million children are in hazardous work [91]

The ILO estimates that 3.3 million children are in forced labor [92]

Labor inspections are often insufficient: in many countries, workers report low enforcement coverage (estimate) [93]

Approximately 80% of forced labor occurs in supply chains according to some ILO analyses [94]

The ILO estimates that 4 out of 5 forced labor victims are exploited by private actors [95]

81% of surveyed apparel industry executives report modern slavery risk in their supply chains (survey) [96]

47% of companies say they cannot fully assess forced labor risk due to limited visibility (survey) [97]

56% of brands report auditing does not reliably identify labor abuses (survey) [98]

40% of factories in some garment supply chains have deficiencies in labor conditions (audit study) [99]

27% of workers in garment factories report wage issues (survey) [100]

62% of workers report discrimination or harassment risks (survey) [101]

33% of audits are announced in advance in some apparel supply chains (audit practice estimate) [102]

18% of facilities fail to meet minimum working hour standards (inspection report) [103]

30% of garment workers report unsafe working conditions (survey) [104]

14% of workers report child labor involvement in supply chain (survey) [105]

16% of workers report forced overtime practices (survey) [106]

2.1 million people are trafficked for forced labor globally (estimate) [107]

29% of surveyed consumers say they are concerned about labor conditions in fast fashion [108]

41% of consumers say they would stop buying brands with poor labor conditions (survey) [109]

53% of companies report using grievance mechanisms (survey) [110]

37% of companies say they lack effective worker voice systems (survey) [111]

64% of workers do not know how to report grievances confidentially (survey) [89]

24% of apparel brands reported no remediation plans for labor breaches (survey) [112]

In 2019, Bangladesh garment industry employed 4.2 million workers [113]

In 2018, 60% of global textile production came from Asia [114]

In 2019, 75% of global clothing production was in Asia [115]

80% of garment brands do not fully disclose supply chain information [116]

Only 23% of companies in fashion supply chains publish full supplier lists [117]

Approximately 30% of apparel shipments are misclassified under HS codes (estimate) [118]

70% of traceability initiatives rely on manual processes [119]

RFID adoption in apparel supply chains is below 10% (industry estimate) [120]

90% of apparel companies use supplier questionnaires instead of auditable traceability data [121]

40% of fashion brands cannot prove origin of raw materials beyond basic certification (survey) [122]

100% chain-of-custody coverage remains uncommon across tier 1-3 suppliers [123]

60% of brands have no system to track subcontractors (survey) [124]

25% of apparel firms track products at SKU level (industry estimate) [125]

15% of apparel firms use digital product passports [126]

The EU Waste Framework and Ecodesign drive product traceability disclosures (policy) [127]

The EU Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation requires a “digital product passport” for certain sectors (timeline) [128]

1,000+ brands lack verified third-party traceability for key commodities (report) [129]

12% of apparel imports are from suppliers without sustainability data (estimate) [130]

55% of auditors report difficulty accessing subcontractor locations (survey) [131]

65% of supply chain managers say they need real-time traceability to reduce risk [132]

47% of firms say traceability improves compliance and reduces labor risks (survey) [133]

38% of firms cite counterfeit risk as a reason for traceability investments (survey) [134]

22% of brands say they can’t validate sustainability claims due to lack of data [135]

28% of brands have no direct visibility beyond tier 1 suppliers (survey) [97]

19% of brands use automated data capture in supply chain (survey) [136]

33% of fashion firms report delays in auditing due to documentation gaps [137]

41% of compliance costs relate to reporting and documentation (industry study) [138]

24% of executives believe blockchain will increase supply chain transparency significantly (survey) [139]

52% of consumers want traceability information linked to provenance [50]

29% of brands have piloted traceability technologies beyond RFID/barcodes (industry estimate) [140]

18% of apparel brands can provide complete chain-of-custody for commodities like cotton (report) [141]