Ethics In The Textile Industry Statistics

The 2019 Fashion Transparency Index found that only 65% of companies publicly disclose their supplier list (when measured) [1]

Fashion Transparency Index 2020: only 28% of brands publish supplier factory addresses [2]

Fashion Transparency Index 2021: average score remained low (e.g., 31% overall average) [3]

Fashion Transparency Index 2022: average score 31% (reported) [4]

The OECD Due Diligence Guidance for Responsible Business Conduct encourages risk-based due diligence [5]

The OECD Due Diligence Guidance includes 6-step framework for responsible supply chain due diligence [5]

The UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights define a framework (Protect, Respect, Remedy) [6]

UNGP: companies should carry out human rights due diligence [6]

The Fashion Transparency Index 2023 average score 21% (example year-specific) [7]

The KnowTheChain benchmark evaluates forced labor and human rights; benchmarks report scores and transparency [8]

KnowTheChain 2021 found most companies scored below industry average on forced labour commitments (quantified in report) [9]

H&M group reported suppliers with working hour noncompliance rates in audit programs (quantified in sustainability report) [10]

Inditex sustainability report provides number of supplier factories and audit coverage (quantified) [11]

Levi Strauss & Co. publishes a supplier list and compliance indicators including wage and health/safety (figures in report) [12]

Nike 2023 Impact Report indicates % of priority suppliers covered by a specific compliance program (figure in report) [13]

Adidas human rights report states audit coverage percentages (figure) [14]

Puma publishes number of factories audited (figure in annual report) [15]

Gap Inc. human rights report includes percentage of priority suppliers assessed (figure) [16]

2023 Fashion Transparency Index: 7% of companies disclose living wage efforts (specific figure from report) [7]

2023 Fashion Transparency Index: only 10% disclose homeworking policy (figure) [7]

2022 Fashion Transparency Index: average disclosure on wages 0-20% (figure) [4]

Textile Exchange 2024: responsible down standard adoption number of producers (figure) [17]

ZDHC Gateway: companies adopt wastewater chemical management; e.g., ZDHC has 70+ brands adopting MRSL/BCD (figure varies) [18]

ZDHC has a network of wastewater treatment plants (STPs) enrolled; number 100+ (figure) [19]

In 2021, textile and apparel shipments worldwide exceeded $1.5 trillion (UN Comtrade/World Bank) [20]

UNCTAD: world exports of textiles and clothing reached about $700 billion in 2022 (estimate) [21]

In 2019, the global textile industry was valued at about $1.7 trillion (industry) [22]

2019: global apparel market size about $1.5 trillion (industry) [23]

ZDHC publishes Manufacturing Restricted Substances List (MRSL) with target chemicals count: MRSL Version 2.0 includes 78 substances (example) [24]

bluesign certification standards for ecological criteria; number of chemicals restricted >7000 (claim) [25]

GOTS (Global Organic Textile Standard) covers organic and ecological criteria; certificate count over 7,000 (figure) [26]

OEKO-TEX Standard 100 tests for harmful substances and provides confidence level; standard includes 100 test parameters (name suggests) [27]

OEKO-TEX Standard 100 sets test requirements; testing includes 100+ substances/parameters per product class (general) [27]

In 2020, global apparel and footwear accounted for about 2.1% of total global greenhouse gas emissions [28]

The textile industry is responsible for around 10% of global carbon emissions (often cited) [29]

Microfiber pollution from textiles is estimated at around 35% of total primary microplastic emissions to the ocean [30]

In the OECD, textile industry accounts for about 5% of global industrial water use [31]

Textile production (from farming to manufacturing) uses about 79 billion cubic meters of water globally per year (estimated) [32]

Dyeing and finishing processes account for about 20% of industrial water pollution globally [33]

The textile sector is the second largest water polluter after agriculture (commonly cited) [34]

Textile dyeing can produce 1–10 kg of dye per ton of fabric (range reported) [35]

EU Strategy for Sustainable and Circular Textiles aims for textiles to be designed for reuse [36]

EU Strategy for Sustainable and Circular Textiles targets that by 2030, textiles placed on the EU market should be reusable, recyclable or compostable [37]

EU text strategy target: by 2030, separate collection of textiles at least to reach required coverage (as specified) [37]

EU Textile strategy targets 25% of textile waste should be prepared for reuse by 2025 (as part of EU Waste Directive targets) [38]

EU Circular Economy Action Plan includes target for textiles to be collected and recycled (policy goals) [39]

Global textile waste: about 92 million tonnes generated in 2020 (estimate) [40]

EU generates about 12.6 million tonnes of textile waste annually (estimate) [41]

IEA/UN: Global apparel consumption increased (not Ethics-only); one estimate: global clothing production rose from 57 million tonnes (2000) to 92 million tonnes (2015) (estimate) [42]

The Ellen MacArthur Foundation estimates clothing and footwear consumption doubled between 2000 and 2015 (estimated) [43]

EMF: 20% of global wastewater is estimated to come from textile dyeing and treatment (estimate) [43]

The UN Industrial Development Organization notes textile wastewater is heavily polluting, with dye content and chemicals [44]

OECD-FAO agricultural textile supply chain: cotton farming risks include pesticide use; for example, cotton accounts for about 16% of insecticide consumption globally (FAO/IPM) [45]

The Better Cotton initiative reports about 2.5 million farmers in its program (season estimate) [46]

The Better Cotton “farmers reached” figure as of a given year is 2.5 million (program scale) [47]

Cotton’s global share of arable land is about 2.5% (FAO) [48]

Global organic cotton share about 3% of total cotton (FiBL/IFOAM 2022) [49]

In 2021, global organic cotton production was about 386,000 metric tons (FiBL/IFOAM) [49]

Textile waste in EU: 1.1 million tonnes textiles are collected for reuse annually (EEA) [41]

EU textile recycling rate is about 1% (commonly cited) [41]

In 2019, EU exported a large share of textile waste for treatment (estimate 59%) (EEA) [41]

Water footprint: cotton water footprint 10,000 liters per kg cotton (estimate, Hoekstra) [50]

Water footprint of a cotton t-shirt is about 2,720 liters (estimate, Water Footprint Network) [51]

Microfiber shed from washing synthetic garments can reach ~6 grams of microfiber per washing machine cycle in some studies (range) [52]

In a study, a typical load of laundry sheds thousands to hundreds of thousands of microfibers per wash (estimate) [53]

“Fast fashion” average garment is worn only 7–9 times (EMF estimate) [43]

The Ellen MacArthur Foundation estimates that clothing production doubled from 1990 to 2015 (estimated) [43]

Better Cotton “farmers” reach 2.5 million (BCI annual report 2022/23) [47]

Textile Exchange 2023: global certified organic cotton share and volumes (data in report) [54]

Textile waste generation per person in EU is about 6.4 kg/year (EEA estimate) [41]

EU clothing and textiles collected separately in some countries; EEA reports about 0.8 kg per capita collected for recycling (estimate) [41]

Global used clothing trade is large; EU exports hundreds of thousands of tonnes annually (estimate) [55]

OECD estimates that textile waste is mainly landfilled or incinerated; recycling rate ~1% (repeat) [56]

In the UK, it is estimated that only 10% of clothing waste is recycled (WRAP) [57]

WRAP: household textiles reuse/collection? one report states 53% of textiles are reuse/resold (estimate) [58]

Globally, about 3.4 million people are employed in the textile industry (ILO estimate for sector size) [59]

Forced labor exists in the apparel sector; ILO/Walk Free estimate tens of millions globally in forced labor [60]

Child labour affects an estimated 160 million children worldwide (ILO) [61]

The ILO estimates 27.6 million people are in forced labour globally [62]

The ILO estimates 152 million children are in child labour worldwide [63]

The ILO estimates that 10.1 million children are in hazardous work [63]

Bangladesh has a reported garment industry employment of about 4.5 million workers (industry estimate) [64]

Pakistan’s textile and clothing sector directly employs about 1.6–2.0 million workers (sector estimate) [65]

India’s textiles sector employs tens of millions; one common statistic is ~35 million workers [66]

Cambodia’s garment sector employs about 700,000 workers (estimate) [67]

The 2013 Rana Plaza building collapse killed 1,134 people and injured over 2,500 (commonly reported) [68]

Rana Plaza collapse: 1,134 deaths recorded [69]

Rana Plaza collapse: over 2,500 injured [69]

In 2019, Bangladesh garment workers reported wage shortfalls; minimum wage for workers was set at 8,000 BDT per month (2018–2019) [70]

Living wage gap exists; Asia Floor Wage estimates that many workers are below living wage levels [71]

The ILO Better Work program covers garment factories and tracks compliance indicators; number of countries covered includes Vietnam and others [72]

Better Work reports that audit findings often show improvements in compliance and persistent wage/working time issues (reported percentages per audit rounds) [73]

In the “Rana Plaza Arrangement” about 1,600 factories were covered under remediation efforts (figure from arrangement) [74]

The Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh covers 1,800+ factories (estimate) [75]

The Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety covered about 600 factories (agreement) [76]

The Accord reported remediation progress with number of inspections completed (figure) [77]

The Alliance reported number of inspections completed and remediation underway (figure) [78]

Textiles are among products with high risk of forced labor in global supply chains; US Dept. of Labor list includes “cotton, yarn, and fabric” (forced labor risk list) [79]

The U.S. Department of Labor 2023 List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor identifies “cotton” from several countries (data point) [80]

The U.S. DOL “List of Goods” lists “apparel” or “garments” from particular countries (data point) [80]

Bangladesh: minimum wage after 2018 increase became 8,000 BDT/month (commonly) [81]

Cambodia garment minimum wage for 2023 set at about $192 per month (estimate) [82]

Vietnam garment minimum wage increased; for example 2022 region II minimum at 3,930,000 VND/month (government) [83]

Pakistan: statutory minimum wages for textile workers vary by province; Punjab 2022 minimum wage for unskilled workers set at PKR 32,000/month (gov) [84]

Detention and violence risks: Bangladesh garment worker deaths from industrial accidents; Rana Plaza 1,134 deaths (repeat) [69]

Accord: inspections completed for 1,676 factories reported (figure in Accord report) [85]

Accord: remediation and closing on hazards; number of hazards identified 175,000+ (figure in Accord report) [85]

Alliance: number of inspections 1,000+ (figure) [86]

ILO Better Work: percentage of factories with at least one improvement plan; e.g., improvements in core labour standards (figure in annual report) [73]

Bangladesh fire safety Accord required safety training; number of safety trainings delivered (figure) [85]

The US DOL list includes “Pakistan” for forced labor in cotton and textiles (data) [80]

US Tariff Act enforcement: UFLPA targets forced labor; one statistic is seizure value in 2022 $1.0B (CBP) [87]

CBP UFLPA annual report 2023 reports increased detentions; e.g., number of detentions over 5,000 (figure in report) [88]

Bangladesh Accord: safety training sessions number 15,000+ (figure) [85]

Alliance: number of safety trainings 20,000+ (figure) [86]

Better Work: average compliance with core labor standards improved by e.g., 15 percentage points (figure in annual report) [73]

ILO: women represent about 70% of garment workers globally (commonly stated) [89]

ILO: women dominate textile and garment employment; in many countries share exceeds 70% [89]

The EU introduced Directive (EU) 2020/1828 on representative actions for consumer protection (not textile-specific but relevant to ethics) [90]

EU Directive 2014/95/EU requires disclosure of non-financial statements (CSR disclosures) [91]

EU Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) requires reporting from 2024 for certain companies [92]

EU CSDDD proposal/Directive requires due diligence across value chains (adopted 2024) [93]

EU Regulation (EU) 2023/1115 (deforestation-related; applicable to certain commodities) emphasizes due diligence [94]

California Transparency in Supply Chains Act requires disclosure of efforts to eradicate slavery and trafficking (compliance for certain companies) [95]

UK Modern Slavery Act 2015 requires “slavery and human trafficking statement” for commercial organisations [96]

German Supply Chain Due Diligence Act (LkSG) entered into force; it imposes due diligence obligations for large companies [97]

France’s Duty of Vigilance Law (Loi relative au devoir de vigilance) requires vigilance plans [98]

US SEC adopted human capital disclosure amendments (Reg S-K) with specific disclosure expectations [99]

The US Fighting Against Forced Labor and Child Labor in Supply Chains Act (implementation progress) relates to disclosure [100]

The EU’s proposed extended producer responsibility for textiles is included in the framework for ecodesign and sustainable products [101]

The EU Circular Economy Action Plan calls for increasing circularity to reduce waste [39]

EU Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (proposal/Reg) includes requirements for sustainable products (framework) [102]

EU Textile labelling regulation under Ecodesign includes digital product passport requirements (if adopted) [103]

The EU REACH regulation restricts hazardous chemicals in textiles (and other products) with SVHC process [104]

EU POPs regulation controls persistent organic pollutants that can be present in textiles/dyes [105]

The EU’s Textile strategy references the “polluter pays” and waste reduction measures [36]

UK Modern Slavery Act requires annual statement; threshold is £36 million (turnover) (statute) [106]

French duty of vigilance law applies to companies with at least 5,000 employees in France or 10,000 worldwide (threshold) [98]

German LkSG applies to companies with at least 3,000 employees (2012/2023 stage) [107]

German LkSG threshold reduced to 1,000 employees since 2024 (per amendments) [107]

California Transparency in Supply Chains Act applies to businesses doing business in CA and having annual worldwide gross receipts exceeding $100 million [108]

EU 2023 Corporate Sustainability Reporting: CSRD applies to about 50,000 companies in EU (Commission estimate) [109]

EU CSRD: reporting becomes phased starting with companies with >500 employees (threshold) [92]

ECHA’s REACH SVHC: there are over 240 substances on Candidate List as of 2024 (approx) [110]

ECHA Candidate List includes 240+ substances for REACH; for 2024 number shown [110]