Clothing Industry Statistics

The global fashion industry employed 430 million people in 2022 [1]

The apparel sector accounts for 3.2% of global employment [1]

The garment industry employs around 75 million factory workers worldwide [2]

Women make up approximately 80% of garment workers worldwide [3]

Bangladesh’s garment sector employs about 4 million workers [4]

Women account for about 60% of employment in Bangladesh’s garment sector [4]

The garment industry contributes more than 11% of Bangladesh’s GDP [4]

The ready-made garment sector accounts for more than 80% of Bangladesh’s total exports [4]

The Asia-Pacific region accounted for over 55% of global apparel manufacturing in 2023 [5]

The cut and sew apparel manufacturing workforce in the United States numbered 85,000 in 2023 [6]

The average hourly earnings in U.S. cut and sew apparel manufacturing were $18.83 in January 2024 [6]

U.S. apparel accessories and other apparel manufacturing employed 65,800 people in 2023 [6]

Median pay for sewing machine operators was $32,170 per year in May 2023 [7]

Employment of sewing machine operators is projected to decline 14% from 2023 to 2033 [7]

There were about 151,300 sewing machine operator jobs in the United States in 2023 [7]

Median annual wage for fashion designers was $79,290 in May 2023 [8]

There were about 23,800 fashion designer jobs in the United States in 2023 [8]

Employment of fashion designers is projected to grow 5% from 2023 to 2033 [8]

The average pay for garment workers in many countries is often below a living wage by 50% or more [2]

Cambodia’s garment and footwear sector employs around 750,000 workers [9]

About 80% of workers in Cambodia’s garment and footwear sector are women [9]

The textile, clothing, leather and footwear sector employed 1.3 million people in the EU in 2022 [10]

There were around 160,000 companies in the EU textile ecosystem in 2022 [10]

Small and medium-sized enterprises represent 99% of companies in the EU textile ecosystem [10]

The textile ecosystem generated a turnover of EUR 170 billion in the EU in 2022 [10]

The textile ecosystem generated EUR 58 billion in added value in the EU in 2022 [10]

India’s textile and apparel industry employed more than 45 million people directly in 2023 [11]

The Indian textile and apparel industry supports 100 million people indirectly [11]

Textile and apparel contributed 2.3% to India’s GDP and 12% to export earnings in 2023 [11]

The global apparel market was valued at $1.79 trillion in 2024 [12]

Revenue in the global apparel market is projected to reach $1.84 trillion in 2025 [12]

The global apparel market is expected to grow annually by 2.81% from 2025 to 2029 [12]

The volume in the global apparel market is projected to amount to 191.5 billion pieces by 2029 [12]

The average volume per person in the global apparel market is expected to amount to 23.8 pieces in 2025 [12]

The global fast fashion market size was valued at $106.42 billion in 2022 [13]

The global fast fashion market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 10.74% from 2023 to 2030 [13]

The global luxury apparel market size was estimated at $80.13 billion in 2023 [14]

The global luxury apparel market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 4.1% from 2024 to 2030 [14]

The global secondhand apparel market was valued at $197 billion in 2023 [15]

The global secondhand apparel market is expected to reach $350 billion by 2028 [15]

The U.S. secondhand apparel market is expected to reach $73 billion by 2028 [15]

The global sustainable fashion market size was valued at $7.8 billion in 2023 [16]

The global sustainable fashion market is projected to reach $33.05 billion by 2034 [16]

The global sustainable fashion market is expanding at a CAGR of 14.02% from 2024 to 2034 [16]

The global sports apparel market size was valued at $193.89 billion in 2024 [17]

The global sports apparel market is projected to grow from $203.96 billion in 2025 to $271.77 billion by 2032 [17]

The global sports apparel market is expected to exhibit a CAGR of 4.2% during 2025 to 2032 [17]

The global childrenswear market size was valued at $203.4 billion in 2023 [18]

The global childrenswear market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 6.4% from 2024 to 2030 [18]

The global denim jeans market size was estimated at $95.30 billion in 2023 [19]

The global denim jeans market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 6.8% from 2024 to 2030 [19]

The global lingerie market size was estimated at $88.32 billion in 2023 [20]

The global lingerie market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 7.8% from 2024 to 2030 [20]

The global workwear market size was valued at $19.27 billion in 2023 [21]

The global workwear market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 5.7% from 2024 to 2030 [21]

The global custom t-shirt printing market size was valued at $4.31 billion in 2024 [22]

The global custom t-shirt printing market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 11.5% from 2025 to 2030 [22]

The global shapewear market size was estimated at $2.74 billion in 2023 [23]

The global shapewear market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 7.8% from 2024 to 2030 [23]

Online sales accounted for 18.9% of global apparel market revenue in 2024 [12]

The average revenue per user in the global apparel market is expected to amount to $270.50 in 2025 [12]

The United States generated the highest apparel market revenue at $365 billion in 2025 [12]

In 2023, 52% of consumers shopped for clothing online monthly [24]

Price is the top purchase driver for 62% of fashion shoppers globally in 2023 [24]

41% of consumers bought more sustainable products in 2023 [24]

Gen Z and millennials are 2.5 times more likely than other age groups to buy secondhand apparel [15]

52% of consumers shopped secondhand apparel in 2023 [15]

64% of Gen Z consumers shopped secondhand apparel in 2023 [15]

69% of consumers say they would like more apparel brands to offer secondhand options [15]

55% of retail executives say resale will be a key part of their business by 2029 [15]

The global online fashion market was valued at $759.5 billion in 2021 [25]

The global online fashion market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 9.1% from 2022 to 2030 [25]

Women’s segment accounted for over 60% of online fashion market revenue in 2021 [25]

Mobile was the largest platform segment in online fashion retail with over 59% share in 2021 [25]

The U.S. online apparel market size was valued at $151.4 billion in 2022 [26]

The U.S. online apparel market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 8.0% from 2023 to 2030 [26]

Casual wear accounted for over 45% of U.S. online apparel revenue in 2022 [26]

In 2023, Zara operated 1,759 stores worldwide [27]

H&M had 4,369 stores worldwide in 2023 [28]

Nike’s direct-to-consumer sales represented 43.6% of total revenues in fiscal 2024 [29]

In 2023, 71% of U.S. consumers considered free shipping important when buying apparel online [30]

In 2023, 56% of U.S. online apparel shoppers considered easy returns important [30]

In 2023, 39% of U.S. online apparel shoppers considered discounts important [30]

In 2023, 34% of U.S. online apparel shoppers considered fast delivery important [30]

The global apparel market’s non-luxury segment is forecast to generate $1.54 trillion in 2025 [12]

The global apparel market’s luxury segment is forecast to generate $299.8 billion in 2025 [12]

The fashion industry is responsible for 2% to 8% of global carbon emissions [31]

The fashion industry consumes 215 trillion liters of water per year [31]

People bought 60% more garments in 2014 than in 2000 [32]

The average number of times a garment was worn decreased by 36% compared with 15 years earlier [32]

Less than 1% of material used to produce clothing is recycled into new clothing [33]

The industry loses more than $100 billion worth of materials each year due to clothing underutilization and lack of recycling [33]

Textile production generates 1.2 billion tonnes of CO2 equivalent per year [33]

Washing clothes releases half a million tonnes of plastic microfibres into the ocean every year [33]

The equivalent of one garbage truck of textiles is landfilled or burned every second [33]

The fashion industry produces about 20% of global wastewater [34]

The fashion industry accounts for about 10% of global carbon emissions [34]

About 85% of all textiles go to the dump each year [34]

Making a single cotton shirt can require 2,700 liters of water [35]

Making a pair of jeans can require 7,500 liters of water [35]

A truckload of clothing is burned or buried in landfill every second [36]

The textiles sector was responsible for 270 kg of CO2 emissions per person in the EU in 2020 [37]

Textile consumption in the EU required 9 cubic metres of water per person in 2020 [37]

Textile consumption in the EU required 400 square metres of land per person in 2020 [37]

Textile consumption in the EU used 391 kg of raw materials per person in 2020 [37]

Europeans consume nearly 26 kg of textiles and discard about 11 kg of textiles each year [37]

In 2020, 6.95 million tonnes of textile waste were generated in the EU [37]

Less than half of used clothes are collected for reuse or recycling in the EU [37]

Only 1% of used clothes are recycled into new clothes in the EU [37]

Around 60% of the material made into clothing is plastic, including polyester, acrylic and nylon [38]

Synthetic textiles account for 35% of primary microplastics released into the environment [39]

Polyester production for textiles emitted 706 billion kg of greenhouse gases in 2015 [40]

Global clothing utilization has dropped by 36% compared with 15 years ago [41]

The United States imported $79.3 billion of apparel in 2023 [42]

China supplied 21.0% of U.S. apparel imports in 2023 [42]

Vietnam supplied 18.9% of U.S. apparel imports in 2023 [42]

Bangladesh supplied 9.8% of U.S. apparel imports in 2023 [42]

India supplied 5.8% of U.S. apparel imports in 2023 [42]

Indonesia supplied 5.1% of U.S. apparel imports in 2023 [42]

Mexico supplied 4.3% of U.S. apparel imports in 2023 [42]

Cambodia supplied 4.1% of U.S. apparel imports in 2023 [42]

Pakistan supplied 3.8% of U.S. apparel imports in 2023 [42]

Honduras supplied 3.8% of U.S. apparel imports in 2023 [42]

The EU imported €92 billion of textiles and clothing in 2023 [10]

The EU exported €73 billion of textiles and clothing in 2023 [10]

China’s textile and apparel exports were $293.6 billion in 2023 [43]

Bangladesh exported $47.39 billion in garments in fiscal year 2023-24 [44]

Ready-made garments accounted for 84.58% of Bangladesh’s total export earnings in fiscal year 2023-24 [44]

Bangladesh had 3,551 garment factories in operation in 2024 [44]

India’s textiles and apparel exports stood at $34.4 billion in 2023-24 [11]

India aims to achieve $100 billion in textiles exports by 2030 [11]

Vietnam’s textile and garment exports reached $40.3 billion in 2023 [45]

The global apparel supply chain management market size was valued at $2.3 billion in 2023 [46]

The apparel supply chain management market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 11.6% from 2024 to 2030 [46]

RFID in retail, including apparel, can improve inventory accuracy from 63% to 95% [47]

The global textile chemicals market size was valued at $27.7 billion in 2023 [48]

The textile chemicals market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 4.7% from 2024 to 2030 [48]

The global textile recycling market size was valued at $5.32 billion in 2023 [49]

The textile recycling market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 3.9% from 2024 to 2030 [49]

The global textile yarn market size was valued at $14.43 billion in 2023 [50]

The textile yarn market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 4.9% from 2024 to 2030 [50]

The global textile market size was estimated at $1.84 trillion in 2023 [51]

The global textile market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 7.4% from 2024 to 2030 [51]

Cotton accounted for over 39% of the global textile market revenue in 2023 [51]

Asia Pacific accounted for over 53% of the global textile market revenue in 2023 [51]