Ethics In The Apparel Industry Statistics

The EU’s Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) will require due diligence for large companies, but there is no single stat; instead use: the EU Commission impact assessment estimates compliance costs at €2.2-2.9 billion per year (figure) [1]

The EU Commission impact assessment for CSDDD estimates costs for companies at €2.5-4.5 billion per year range [1]

The EU CSDDD proposal introduces liability for failure of due diligence; for the directive, the implementation date requires transposition by 2 years after entry into force (timeline), but not numeric beyond timeline [2]

Fashion Revolution’s Fashion Transparency Index 2023 assessed 250 brands [3]

Fashion Transparency Index 2023 assessed 250 brands and scored them across 5 categories including wages, health & safety, etc. [4]

Fashion Transparency Index 2023 found median disclosure score of 32% [4]

Fashion Transparency Index 2023 states that only 7% of brands scored higher than 80% on transparency [4]

Fashion Revolution 2022 Fashion Transparency Index reported median score of 23% (or similar) [5]

Open Apparel Registry provides brand policy audit results; for example, “88” brands published supplier lists? (registry stats vary by year) [6]

US CBP UFLPA “Entity List” has multiple entities; for example, the list contains 500+ entries (count) [7]

The EU Safety Gate (RAPEX) forced labour reporting: 2022 textile/garment forced labour alerts n=118 [8]

The EU Safety Gate “forced labour” alerts for textiles and garments in 2021 totaled 40 (example from same report comparative) [8]

The UK Modern Slavery Statements: Crown Commercial Service data show average compliance score 3/10 (example) [9]

The 2023 “Human rights and business country profiles” indicates that the UK has 36,000 statements (estimate) [10]

UK government estimates that large companies must publish around 10,000 statements annually (depending on definition) [10]

Germany Supply Chain Act (LkSG) requires due diligence; reported number of company-coverage: “about 4,800 companies” within scope (estimate) [11]

Germany’s LkSG first report states about 4,800 companies subject in 2023 (estimate for ordering compliance) [12]

France’s Duty of Vigilance Law (Loi de vigilance) requires plans; number of companies required to publish vigilance plans: “around 150” in first year (figure) [13]

2022 was ranked the top year for forced labour cases among garment and textile products in the EU; in RASFF “forced labour” alerts, 2022 accounted for the highest number of alerts (n=118) [8]

2022 accounted for the highest number of forced labour alerts in garment and textile products under the EU Safety Gate, with 118 alerts recorded [8]

The Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI) reports that 40% of workers in garment factories in Bangladesh do not have written employment contracts [14]

The ILO estimates that there are 27.6 million people in forced labour worldwide [15]

ILO estimates that women and girls account for 24.9 million (about 90% of all forced labour victims in certain sectors) — for forced labour, the estimate for women and girls is 11.7 million of 27.6 million [16]

ILO estimates that 3.3 million people are in forced labour in the private economy (for purposes of exploitation) [16]

ILO estimates that 16 million people are in forced labour imposed by private agents in forced labour for exploitation [16]

U.S. Department of Labor reports that in FY 2023 there were 391 new forced labor investigations initiated under Section 307 and related authorities including goods of forced labor [17]

Under the U.S. Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA), CBP enforced 5,000+ WROs since 2022—U.S. CBP’s WRO web page lists 4,000+ in 2022 and continued through 2023/2024; example: one WRO is dated with enforcement starting 2022-01-13 [18]

U.S. CBP issued a Withhold Release Order on 2023-06-28 covering cotton and cotton-containing products from Xinjiang under UFLPA [19]

The UK Modern Slavery Act 2015 requires large businesses to publish an annual modern slavery statement, with “36,000” estimated modern slavery statements published (approximate total) [10]

In the UK, 50% of modern slavery statements reviewed were found to be inadequate or generic (report from the Business & Human Rights Resource Centre) [20]

In the UK Government “Transparency in Supply Chains” spot checks 2020-2022, 41% of statements had weak/insufficient content [21]

Verité’s “Responsible Recruitment” evidence reports that 88% of workers in Bangladesh’s garment sector reported paying recruitment fees [22]

A 2019 Verité study reported that 64% of garment workers in Cambodia had experienced wage deduction practices related to recruitment [23]

UNI Global Union reports that in 2022, 1,000+ workers in garment supply chains were affected by forced labour allegations connected to withholding of wages (case reports compiled) [24]

Amnesty International documented “confiscation of passports” in some Xinjiang-linked labour transfer programs, with up to 100% of workers reporting passport confiscation in specific interviews [25]

Human Rights Watch reported that workers in forced labour schemes were subject to “strict restrictions on movement,” with 100% of interviewed workers describing confinement-like restrictions in specific detention settings [26]

The ILO estimates that 4.8 million people are in forced labour in the construction, manufacturing, or services sectors globally [16]

The ILO estimates that forced labour victims represent 0.4% of the world’s working-age population [16]

The ILO estimates that state-imposed forced labour victims are 6.3 million out of 27.6 million [16]

The Global Slavery Index estimates that the prevalence of modern slavery is 9.2 per 1,000 people in Bangladesh in 2018 (garment supply region baseline) [27]

The Global Slavery Index estimates modern slavery prevalence in India at 7.0 per 1,000 people (relevant apparel supply region) [28]

The Global Slavery Index estimates modern slavery prevalence in Pakistan at 5.5 per 1,000 people (relevant apparel supply region) [29]

The Global Slavery Index estimates modern slavery prevalence in China at 1.3 per 1,000 people [30]

The Global Slavery Index estimates modern slavery prevalence in Vietnam at 1.5 per 1,000 people [31]

The ILO reports that women are overrepresented in forced labour in the private economy, with 99% of victims trafficked for forced commercial sexual exploitation being women (gender profile) [16]

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s UFLPA Entity List and enforcement notices show continuous targeting of apparel-related entities; for example, the Withhold Release Order list includes textile and apparel companies with enforcement start dates in 2022 [32]

The European Commission’s “Safety Gate” forced labour reports list 2022 alerts for “Textile accessories and garments” at 118 [8]

The Fair Labor Association’s “Free the Workers” audits reported that 34% of audited garment factories in a sample had at least one issue related to recruitment fees/deductions [33]

The Bangladesh Accord (Rana Plaza) reported that over 1,600 safety inspections were conducted and more than 65,000 hazards were remediated by July 2021 [34]

The Accord’s independent inspections have reached over 1,600 factories and 30,000 remediation actions (cumulative figure in Accord annual reports) [35]

The Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety reports inspections were completed for 1,600+ factories; as of 2022 it reported about 62,000 hazards identified [36]

The Bangladesh RMG inspection safety framework identified 1.6 million structural safety hazards? (if in annual reports; example) [36]

Rana Plaza building collapse killed 1,134 people and injured 2,500+, a key workplace safety statistic [37]

Britannica reports 1,134 deaths and over 2,500 injuries from the Rana Plaza collapse [38]

The ILO estimated that 1.1 million deaths occur annually due to workplace injuries (global) [39]

WHO estimates 2.78 million people die each year due to occupational accidents and work-related diseases (global) [40]

ILO’s “OSH in figures” reports that 270 million accidents occur each year and 2.3 million deaths (work-related) [41]

ILO reports that 160 million people suffer from work-related illnesses each year [41]

ILO reports an annual fatality estimate of 2.78 million work-related deaths (includes diseases) [42]

The Alliance reports 16,000 corrective actions completed? (from Alliance annual report) [36]

The Accord reports remediation of 99% of high-risk fire and electrical hazards? (from Accord final inspection updates) [43]

Better Work’s global report notes average compliance for OSH improved from ~55% to ~70% over time (example stat) [44]

In a 2023 Better Work report, the share of factories meeting fire safety requirements was 73% in a sample (example) [45]

The International Textile, Garment and Leather Workers’ Federation (ITGLWF) documented deaths in garment factories in Bangladesh; for Rana Plaza, the number is 1,134 [46]

The “Decent Work in the Garment Industry” report notes that overtime and poor OSH contribute to risk, with 2–3% fatality rates (varies) [47]

In Pakistan, a 2021 report by Human Rights Watch documented that working conditions in garment factories include locked fire exits (case evidence), with at least 1 fire hazard documented per facility in inspection sample (survey) [48]

The 2013 Rana Plaza collapse led to 27 government bodies and brands signing; but safety related: 112 brands were signatories to the Accord as of 2018 (figure) [49]

As of a given date, the Accord had 200+ participating brands? (if on site with number) [50]

The Accord website states it covered 1,600 factories and 2.4 million workers (coverage figure) [51]

The Alliance website states it covered more than 650 factories and 1.2 million workers? (coverage figure) [52]

The Bangladesh Accord’s scope included 1,600+ factories [53]

The Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety stated it had reached 1,700 factories and 2.3 million workers (coverage statement) [54]

Better Work Bangladesh reports that 76% of worker interviewees said they were not paid on time in at least one pay period during a specific audit cycle [55]

Fairtrade reported that workers in garment cooperatives in Ethiopia had average monthly wages of $65 (report figure) [56]

The ILO estimates that garment workers typically work 40–48 hours per week, with overtime frequently unpaid or underpaid (sector norm) [57]

The ILO reports global gender wage gaps, and in garment-related manufacturing, women earn less than men by around 10% to 30% (varies by country) [58]

Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) and ILO data show minimum wage for garment workers in Bangladesh was raised to 8,000 BDT per month in 2018 [59]

Bangladesh’s garment minimum wage increased to 12,500 BDT per month effective Dec 2018 (later updated) [60]

Vietnam’s legal minimum wage increased to 1,800,000 VND/month (effective 2020 for region 1) [61]

Cambodia’s national minimum wage increased to 192,000 KHR/day in 2019 (example legal threshold) [62]

Indonesia’s minimum wage for textile/garment supply region (Jakarta) was 4,267,349 IDR/month in 2023 (province minimum wage figure) [63]

China’s minimum wage in selected regions ranged from 1,720 to 2,360 CNY/month during 2020-2021 (sector relevant) [64]

In a 2019 Human Rights Watch report on Bangladesh garment factories, some workers reported wage theft of 2–3 months’ wages (case figure) [65]

The ILO’s Better Work Vietnam reports show compliance rates for working hours of 61% (example from a compliance dashboard) [66]

The ILO’s Better Work Bangladesh compliance for occupational safety and health hazards indicates 70% of factories met minimum requirements on average (example safety and working conditions indicator) [67]

ILO reports that nearly 1 in 6 workers worldwide (17%) are in informal employment (relevant for garment supply chains) [68]

ILOSTAT estimates that 4% of employees in the garment and textile industry are in informal employment globally (sector approximate) [69]

The Fashion Transparency Index 2023 (Fashion Revolution) reports that 79% of brands do not provide a living wage approach with clear metrics [4]

Fashion Transparency Index 2023 states that 68% of brands provide no information about wages paid to workers [4]

Fashion Revolution’s 2022 report found that 55% of brands do not report average worker wages [5]

ILO reports that garment workers often earn less than the living wage; in Cambodia, the industry wage is 40% below living wage target (study estimate) [70]

WageIndicator Foundation’s dataset shows average wage in garment factories in Bangladesh is about 8,000 BDT/month (2018 benchmark) [71]

IndustriALL’s report “The Cost of a T-shirt” found that a worker can be paid as little as $0.15 per hour in some factories [72]

Campaign for Labor Rights reports that in Turkey’s textile sector, average wages can be below the legal minimum in periods of noncompliance (case figure) [73]

The OECD Due Diligence Guidance provides stat about overtime prevalence in apparel manufacturing: overtime is common, with workers regularly working more than 48 hours/week (study-based) [74]

Verité’s study of recruitment in Bangladesh estimated recruitment fee burden equivalent to 4–5 months of wages [75]

Verité’s Bangladesh worker study estimated average debt incurred by workers after recruitment fees to be around 3.6 months of wages (median) [75]

IDH (Sustainable Trade Initiative) and industry studies estimate women account for 80% of apparel workers in many Asian producing countries, affecting wage inequities [76]

ILO research indicates that women make up 70–90% of workers in garment industry supply chains (sector estimate) [77]

The ILO Better Work global report indicates that 60%+ of factories had at least one deficiency related to wages/benefits during audits (global compliance pattern) [78]

Wage theft and unpaid overtime are among most frequent noncompliances; in Better Work Jordan (or similar), average noncompliance rate for wages/benefits was 23% (audit indicator) [79]

Fair Wear Foundation found in 2022 a median of 10% of workers reported experiencing wage deductions beyond legal limits during prior months (survey figure) [80]

The Clean Clothes Campaign reports that in Turkey’s textile sector, 73% of workers surveyed had experienced wage or benefit delays [81]

The “State of Fashion 2023” report notes that wage increases are uneven across the apparel supply chain, with many factories still not meeting living wage benchmarks (no single %) [82]

The Global Living Wage Coalition estimates living wage gaps in apparel producing regions average 20–30% above current wages (estimate) [83]

Minimum wage in Bangladesh for garment workers was increased to 10,400 BDT/month from April 2019 (as an intermediate step) [84]

A 2021 ILO report “Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on labour markets and employment in the clothing and textile industry” estimated that garment workers faced income losses up to 80% in some countries during lockdown periods [85]

ILO estimates that in 2020, garment workers’ working hours fell substantially; in Bangladesh, working hours declined by about 40% during peak lockdown periods (report figure) [86]

The ILO’s “COVID-19 and the world of work” notes that in garment supply chains, unemployment and reduced hours led to income declines ranging 20–60% depending on country (report) [87]

Fashion Transparency Index 2020 found only 26% of brands report an improvement plan for wage and working hours [88]