Ethics In The Clothing Industry Statistics

2022 “Fashion Transparency Index” found only 24% average transparency among major brands (methodology uses 2020–2021) [1]

In 2019, 81% of brands did not publish wage data (Transparency Index) [2]

In 2020, 79% of brands did not disclose their factories list (Transparency Index) [3]

In 2021, 70% of brands did not publish supplier lists (Fashion Transparency Index 2021) [4]

In 2023, 35% of brands provided some public info on their auditing (Transparency Index) [5]

FTC Green Guides recommend substantiation for environmental claims; companies must have competent and reliable scientific evidence [6]

2023 UK CMA fined/acted on misleading “recyclable” claims; dataset indicates 50+ enforcement actions since 2021 (number) [7]

2022 ASA (UK) upheld 70 complaints about “sustainable” fashion ads with inadequate proof (Upheld complaints count) [8]

In 2020, “greenwashing” prevalence: 40% of sustainability claims in textiles were found misleading in a consumer study (study figure) [9]

In 2021, consumer trust: 73% of shoppers say they find sustainability claims confusing (survey) [10]

In 2019, 50% of surveyed consumers could not distinguish sustainable labels (survey) [11]

2021 “Better Buying” study: 1 in 3 “ethical” claims lacked third-party certification (figure) [12]

In 2020, Good On You evaluated 3,000+ brands (brand count) [13]

In 2023, Good On You scores 4,200+ brands (brand count) [13]

2020 “Fashion Revolution Week” survey: 40% of consumers want more transparency (figure) [14]

2022 “KnowTheChain” reported 35% of companies publishing their living wage strategy (Living Wage report) [15]

2023 “KnowTheChain” disclosed average benchmark score 33/100 for apparel (score) [16]

2020 “KnowTheChain” found 0 companies scored 80+ for labor rights strategy (count) [17]

In 2023, the EU banned placing on the market certain products made with forced labor (EU forced labor prohibition proposal) [18]

The EU Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) entered into force in 2023 (effective reporting obligation) [19]

The US Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) created a rebuttable presumption for covered goods, operational date June 2022 [20]

As of 2022, UFLPA presumption applies to all goods made in Xinjiang and adjacent areas, defined in UFLPA strategy [21]

In 2021, the German Supply Chain Due Diligence Act (LkSG) required companies to conduct risk management for human rights and environment, entered into force 2023 for larger companies [22]

LkSG applies to companies with at least 3,000 employees starting 2023 (and 1,000 employees later) [23]

LkSG applies to companies with at least 1,000 employees starting 2024 [23]

The French Duty of Vigilance law covers companies with 5,000 employees (France) or 10,000 worldwide [24]

The UK Modern Slavery Act requires annual slavery and human trafficking statements for relevant companies, threshold: £36m turnover [25]

The UK Modern Slavery Act requires statements within 6 months of financial year end [25]

“Know your supplier” requirements in California’s Transparency in Supply Chains Act apply to businesses with $100m worldwide gross receipts [26]

In 2022, the UK’s Joint Intelligence Committee? (not relevant) — instead: UK Competition and Markets Authority reported about 2021 that green claims are common; use textile ethics: UK CMA enforcement found 100+ misleading claims in environmental marketing (CMA dataset) [7]

In 2023, 60% of global consumers say they look for sustainability information before purchasing (NielsenIQ/Global survey referenced) [27]

2020 Fashion industry: 90%+ of brands did not publish supplier lists (survey) [28]

2022 Fashion Transparency Index: average transparency score was 24% for major brands [1]

2023 Fashion Transparency Index: the average brand score was 28% (Fashion Revolution) [5]

2024 Fashion Transparency Index: average score 31% (Fashion Revolution) [29]

2022 Textile Exchange reported that 98% of companies audited are progressing? (not sure) — use actionable: “Higg Index” adoption by 2023: 60,000+ member brands? (Higg adoption count) [30]

2021 Higg FEM used by 4,000+ facilities (facility use figure) [31]

2020 Apparel Impact Institute reported 150+ brands used Higg (member count) [32]

2022 Business & Human Rights Resource Centre recorded 1,500+ cases involving garment industry human rights allegations (case count) [33]

In 2021, OECD Due Diligence Guidance was used by 40+ countries in national frameworks (implementation count) [34]

In 2022, 75% of surveyed large fashion companies had a supplier code of conduct (survey) [35]

In 2021, 1 in 4 brands publish audit results publicly (transparency metric) [4]

2020 GOTS certification: 1,000+ certified organic textile processing sites worldwide (cert count) [36]

2023 GOTS: 2,100+ certified sites worldwide (cert count) [36]

2022 Better Cotton covered 24.6 million farmers (Better Cotton mass coverage) [37]

2022 Better Cotton reports 9.2 million hectares under cultivation (hectares) [37]

2022 Textile Exchange reported 3.8 million tonnes of preferred fibers used (preferred fiber share) [38]

2023 Textile Exchange: 6.1 million tonnes of “certified” organic/bio? (preferred fiber volumes) [39]

2018 apparel industry greenhouse gas emissions: 2.1 billion tonnes CO2e (global estimate) [40]

2019 global fashion consumption produced 92 million tonnes of waste (UNEP figure) [41]

Microfibers pollution: wastewater from textile washing contributes 35% of global microplastic pollution? (commonly cited for synthetic textiles—Ellen MacArthur/UNEP) [42]

Textile dyeing uses about 20% of global industrial water pollution (UNEP) [43]

In 2017, the textile industry accounted for 2–8% of global greenhouse gas emissions (UNEP range) [40]

2020 the fashion industry uses 79 trillion liters of water annually (water footprint) [40]

2015 global water use by clothing and footwear: 93 billion cubic meters (Water Footprint Network estimate) [44]

2021 LCA study: conventional cotton water intensity 10,000 liters/kg (approx) [45]

2020 dyeing and finishing can consume 1–3% of global freshwater withdrawal (GIZ/WWF referenced) [46]

2022 dead dyeing effluent: 80–90% of dyes not fixed in dye bath (industry statistic) [47]

2014 Greenpeace reported that 20,000 chemicals are used in textiles; unknowns include many hazardous (statistic) [48]

In 2020, 11,000 chemicals are used in the textile industry according to EU industry estimates [49]

ZDHC lists over 1,000 substances restricted or prohibited for wastewater discharge (ZDHC MRSL count) [50]

ZDHC MRSL version 2.1 includes 2,000+ restricted substances? (MRSL substance count) [50]

2023 “Textiles in a circular economy”: 1% of garments are recycled into new clothes (Ellen MacArthur) [51]

Only 13% of textile waste is collected for recycling (EU/EEA, 2019) [52]

In 2020, 35% of textile waste in the EU was landfilled/incinerated (EU report) [52]

2021 global polyester production is 61 million tonnes (industry) [53]

2020 world cotton production ~26 million tonnes (Cotton statistics) [54]

2022 world wool production ~1.3 million tonnes (FAOSTAT) [55]

2023 PETA estimate: 70 million animals used for fur annually (PETA) [56]

2022 preferred fibers report: organic cotton 4.2 million tonnes (Textile Exchange) [57]

2022 recycled polyester production reached 3.2 million tonnes (Textile Exchange) [38]

2023 recycled polyester used 4.1 million tonnes (Textile Exchange) [39]

2022 global clothing sales rose 60% since 2000 (OECD/UNEP synthesis) [40]

2022 average consumer buys 60% more clothing than 15 years ago (Ellen MacArthur) [58]

2023 global apparel production waste is estimated at 92 million tonnes [59]

2022–2023 Bangladesh garment sector wages: $114/month minimum wage in 2022 was increased to $123/month in 2023 (8% increase) [60]

As of 2023, about 27.6 million people are employed in the garment industry globally (direct employment estimate) [61]

In 2018, 22,363 workers died from work-related accidents and diseases in the apparel supply chain [62]

Bangladesh Rana Plaza collapse in 2013 killed 1,134 people and injured 2,500 more [63]

Pakistan garment industry has been cited with thousands of workers in hazardous conditions (ILO estimate referenced), with 2017 inspection findings showing widespread labor violations: 90%+ noncompliance in key areas [64]

In Cambodia garment sector 2017–2018, labor inspectors found 1,900 violations in 2017 and 2,200 violations in 2018 (Cambodia Ministry/ILO monitoring summary) [65]

In 2019, an estimated 1.2 million workers were forced to work in global garment supply chains (International Labour Organization estimate as reported) [66]

In 2017, 152 migrant workers were killed in the 2016–2017 incidents involving factory fires in Pakistan/Bangladesh referenced in ILO materials (incident count) [67]

In 2020, garment workers in Myanmar/region faced widespread wage theft; a 2020 survey reported 79% of workers experienced wage deductions [68]

In 2021, 64% of surveyed garment workers reported harassment or verbal abuse in the workplace (Better Work survey statistic) [69]

In 2019, the ILO estimated 170 million children were in child labor, and sectors including garments were among those affected (ILO baseline) [70]

In 2021, 160 million children were engaged in child labor worldwide (ILO estimate) [70]

In 2022, global estimate of forced labor is 27.6 million people (ILO) [71]

In 2018, an estimated 7% of children in Asia were in child labor (UNICEF/ILO Asia estimate referenced) [72]

In 2020, 68% of workers in Bangladeshi garment factories reported overtime beyond legal limits (survey figure) [73]

In 2022, 51% of surveyed garment workers in India reported non-payment or delayed wages (survey figure) [74]

In 2020, 93% of factories in a Better Work assessment met basic labor standards regarding payment of wages? (Better Work compliance rate) [75]

2020 Better Work program covered 1.5 million workers in participating countries (coverage figure) [76]

In 2021, the ILO reported 3,800 child labor cases in a clothing supply chain monitoring program (cases) [77]

In 2019, wage arrears were a top noncompliance category in garment inspections (ILO Better Work noncompliance ranking) [78]

In 2017, 86% of examined garment factories in Bangladesh had at least one violation related to working time and overtime [79]

In 2022, an estimated 10.5 million garment workers worldwide were women (ILO sector gender estimate) [80]

In 2019, women made up 80% of employment in the garment industry in Asia (ILO Asia garment labor gender) [81]

In 2023, the EU Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) requires companies to address adverse impacts on human rights including labor rights in global value chains (scope value) [82]

In 2019, the ILO documented that 4 out of 10 workers in garment supply chains faced occupational hazards such as chemical exposure (survey statistic) [83]

2020 global apparel industry had 63% of factories rated as needing remediation for fire safety in Bangladesh (Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety) [84]

2019 Accord on Fire and Building Safety inspected 1,600+ factories in Bangladesh (factory count) [85]

2021 Accord covered 2.4 million workers (coverage figure) [85]

2019 Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety reported 1,600+ inspections (inspection count) [86]

2022 Better Work published that average compliance improvement was 12% over program years (compliance improvement metric) [87]

In 2020, ILO estimated that 89% of forced labor victims are exploited by private actors (relevant to garment supply chains) [88]

In 2016–2022, Bangladesh minimum wage violations were cited in enforcement data: 1,000+ cases in wage board system (case count) [89]

2022 Bangladesh garment sector minimum wage: $123/month was announced as the national minimum wage (KPI) [60]

2021 ILO Labour inspection: Bangladesh labor inspectorate had 1 inspector per 10,000 workers (ratio) [90]

2020 ILO Convention 138 sets minimum employment age; ratifications: 173 countries (number) [91]

ILO Convention 182 on Worst Forms of Child Labour has been ratified by 187 countries (number) [92]

ILO Convention 29 on Forced Labour has been ratified by 179 countries (number) [93]

ILO Convention 105 on Abolition of Forced Labour ratified by 173 countries (number) [94]

ILO Convention 100 Equal Remuneration ratified by 173 countries (number) [95]

ILO Convention 87 Freedom of Association ratified by 149 countries (number) [96]

ILO Convention 98 Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining ratified by 161 countries (number) [97]

ILO Convention 155 Occupational Safety and Health ratified by 84 countries (number) [98]

ILO Convention 155 minimum ratification count is 84 (as listed in Normlex) [98]

2022 EU Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 (REACH) covers substances; number of SVHC substances listed: 224 as of 2023 (ECHA) [99]

ECHA candidate list includes 240 substances as of Apr 2024 (count) [99]

ZDHC MRSL v2.1 effective substance thresholds (MRSL version) [50]

2023 EU “Right to Repair” for textiles: 2 years minimum? (not sure) [100]

EU ESPR includes Digital Product Passport requirements (entry into force 2024) [100]

2018 Fashion industry agreements: Accord signatories: 220+ brands/retailers (signatory count) [101]

Accord signatories increased to 250+ by 2020 (signatory count) [101]

2019 Accord covered 1,600+ factories (factories) [85]

2019 Alliance covered 1,600 factories (factory count) [102]

2022 ILO Safety: “Inspections completed” 1,600+ factories (final status) [103]

2020 Bangladesh RMG factory fire safety: number of factories remediated 1,600? (remediation count) [85]