Cambodia Garment Industry Statistics

Accounting for roughly 80 percent of Cambodia's export earnings and contributing about 10 to 15 percent of GDP, the garment, footwear and travel goods industry is both the country's economic lifeline and its biggest vulnerability, having generated about $12.63 billion in 2022 with major markets in the United States, the European Union and Japan and a near 19 percent surge in travel goods, yet suffering a 13.31 percent export drop in 2023 before a 20 percent rebound in early 2024, a rollercoaster that explains the 2024 tax incentives after a $1 billion hit and makes clear how urgently diversification is needed.

Cambodia's garment and footwear industry stitches together the livelihoods of roughly 2 million Cambodians by directly employing about 850,000 workers, approximately 80 percent of whom are female yet fewer than one percent hold supervisory roles, and it relies heavily on internal migrants, with around 90 percent moving to Phnom Penh and roughly 60 percent coming from rural provinces, many aged between 18 and 35 who support three to four family members but confront limited education, with about 30 percent of women having only primary schooling and approximately 15 percent classified as illiterate or having low literacy participation, widespread nutritional anemia affecting over 60 percent, a turnover rate averaging three to five percent per month alongside five to seven percent on short-term fixed duration contracts, chronic skills gaps that leave 45 percent of employers searching for technical maintenance workers, and traumatic job losses such as the more than 150,000 layoffs or suspensions in 2020 and about 20,000 jobs lost in 2023, while sub-sectors like footwear and travel goods employ roughly 170,000 and over 50,000 workers respectively and youth aged 15 to 24 comprise about 25 percent of the workforce.

More than 90 percent of factories are foreign owned and the sector imports over 80 percent of its inputs, so Cambodia’s garment industry stitches together jobs and export growth through mostly CMT production and booming niches like travel goods and PPE, yet high energy and freight costs, informal subcontracting, factory closures, minimal domestic ownership and a shift of capital toward non garment manufacturing leave the industry surprisingly fragile.

Like a factory floor at a moment of truth, Cambodia's garment industry faces the blunt loss of about €1 billion a year in EU preferences, the risk of roughly a 15 percent drop in competitiveness by 2025 if productivity does not improve, mounting buyer demands for 100 percent renewables that only about 5 percent of factories meet, and fierce pressure from EVFTA partners and lower‑wage neighbors, yet the government's modernization map, a 20 percent solar target by 2030, the Green Add-Back for 50 factories, growing digital wage coverage above 60 percent and new upskilling investments offer a narrow but real path to adapt while automation, rising logistics costs, waste and slow moves into high-value production keep the challenge severe.

Cambodia's garment industry has inched forward, with the minimum wage nearly doubling since 2014 to $204 in 2024 and average take-home pay with overtime and benefits around $250 to $300, and while strong wage compliance, fewer fainting incidents and near-elimination of child labor show real progress, persistent heat and ventilation violations in 30 percent of factories, ongoing gender-related harassment, limited collective bargaining coverage and only small allowances and bonuses mean many workers still depend on NSSF protections and arbitration outcomes to secure decent and safe work.