Key Insights
Essential data points from our research
The fashion industry is responsible for 10% of annual global carbon emissions
The fashion industry produces about 20% of global wastewater
Washing clothes releases 500,000 tons of microfibers into the ocean every year
92 million tonnes of textile waste is created annually worldwide
Every second, the equivalent of one garbage truck of textiles is landfilled or burned
Less than 1% of materials used to produce clothing is recycled into new clothing
Production of clothing doubled between 2000 and 2014
The fashion industry produces more than 100 billion garments every year
Since 2000, the number of garment collections per year in Europe has increased from 2 to 5
Consumers buy 60% more clothing items today than they did in 2000
The average number of times a garment is worn before it ceases to be used has decreased by 36% compared to 15 years ago
In the UK, the average garment is worn only 7 times before being discarded
The fashion industry loses $500 billion annually due to under-utilization of clothing and lack of recycling
93% of brands surveyed by the Fashion Checker aren't paying garment workers a living wage
The global second-hand market is projected to reach $64 billion by 2024
Consumer Behavior & Usage
- Consumers buy 60% more clothing items today than they did in 2000
- The average number of times a garment is worn before it ceases to be used has decreased by 36% compared to 15 years ago
- In the UK, the average garment is worn only 7 times before being discarded
- 33% of women consider clothes "old" after wearing them fewer than three times
- One in three young women in the UK consider clothes "old" after wearing them once or twice
- 9% of UK customers admit to buying clothes for social media photos and then returning them
- The average American throws away 37kg of clothes every year
- Consumers in the UK have an estimated $38 billion worth of unworn clothes in their closets
- 20% of unsold clothes in the US are discarded because consumers return them and they cannot be resold
- 50% of people say they would buy more sustainable fashion if it were more accessible
- 40% of consumers admit to impulse buying fashion items they don't need
- The average lifespan of a garment in the developed world is just over 2 years
- 20% of garments in consumers' wardrobes are never worn
- Gen Z consumers spend 40% more on fashion than the average consumer
- 42% of millennials say they have purchased a fashion item they have never worn
- Extending the life of a garment by just 9 months reduces its carbon, waste, and water footprint by 20-30%
- E-commerce return rates for apparel can be as high as 40%, driving consumption cycles
- People bought 5 times more clothing in 2018 than they did in 1980
- 72% of consumers use online channels to browse for fashion, accelerating impulse purchases
- The average household in the UK owns £4,000 worth of clothes
Interpretation
We now buy roughly 60 percent more clothing than in 2000 while wearing garments far less; in the UK the average item is worn only seven times and closets hide billions worth of unworn clothes, a cycle driven by impulse buys, social media photo ops and high return rates that turns fashion into short lived theater with massive environmental costs, even though half of us say we would choose sustainable options if they were easier to find.
Economic & Social Cost
- The fashion industry loses $500 billion annually due to under-utilization of clothing and lack of recycling
- 93% of brands surveyed by the Fashion Checker aren't paying garment workers a living wage
- The global second-hand market is projected to reach $64 billion by 2024
- The fast fashion market was valued at $106 billion in 2022
- Garment workers in Bangladesh earn a minimum wage of approximately $95 per month, covering only a fraction of living costs
- Returns cost US retailers $550 billion in 2020, with fashion being a primary driver
- Modern slavery affects an estimated 49.6 million people, with the garment industry being a high-risk sector
- The cost of a T-shirt would only increase by €0.12 - €0.25 to ensure living wages for workers
- 40 million people work in the garment industry globally
- Women make up 80% of the garment workforce, often facing gender-based violence and lower pay
- The cost of disposal of clothing is often borne by municipalities in developing nations, amounting to millions in management fees
- Cotton subsidies in rich countries depress world prices, causing losses of $250 million a year for West African producers
- For a £29 t-shirt, the garment worker receives on average only £0.18
- Big fashion brands often pay suppliers months after delivery, causing economic instability in production countries
- 80% of garment workers in the EU (Eastern Europe) earn below the poverty line
- The illicit trade of counterfeit fashion goods is worth nearly $500 billion a year
- Rental fashion was valued at $1.26 billion in 2019, attempting to offset ownership costs
- Repairing clothes can be 50% cheaper for the consumer than buying new, yet replacement rates are higher due to convenience
- The apparel industry accounts for 2% of the world's GDP
- Investing in circular business models could unlock a $700 billion economic opportunity by 2030
Interpretation
The fashion industry is a runaway contradiction: it fuels a $106 billion fast fashion market yet loses $500 billion a year to underused clothing and $550 billion from returns, shifts disposal costs onto cities and small producers, and leaves roughly 40 million mostly female garment workers earning pittance—sometimes only $95 a month or £0.18 from a £29 T-shirt—with 93 percent of brands not paying living wages even though adding just €0.12 to €0.25 per T-shirt would fix that, while the booming second-hand, rental and repair markets could instead unlock a $700 billion circular opportunity.
Environmental Impact
- The fashion industry is responsible for 10% of annual global carbon emissions
- The fashion industry produces about 20% of global wastewater
- Washing clothes releases 500,000 tons of microfibers into the ocean every year
- Approximately 35% of all microplastics released into the world's environment are from synthetic textiles
- It takes about 2,700 liters of water to make one cotton shirt
- Textile dyeing is the second largest polluter of water globally
- 70 million barrels of oil are used each year to make the world's polyester fiber
- The fashion industry contributes more to climate change than international aviation and shipping combined
- Cotton farming is responsible for 24% of insecticides and 11% of pesticides globally despite using only 3% of the world's arable land
- Carbon emissions from the apparel industry are projected to increase by 50% by 2030
- One pair of jeans requires approximately 7,500 liters of water to produce
- The apparel industry generates 1.2 billion tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions annually
- Synthetic fibers like polyester can take up to 200 years to decompose
- Viscose production is linked to the logging of 150 million trees annually
- Growing non-organic cotton for one t-shirt uses one third of a pound of chemicals
- 43 million tonnes of chemicals are used in textile production every year
- If the fashion industry continues on its current path, it will use 26% of the world's carbon budget by 2050
- Leather tanning utilizes heavy metals like chromium which can contaminate local water supplies
- 9,000 liters of water are required to grow one kilogram of cotton
- The footwear industry alone accounts for 1.4% of global greenhouse gas emissions
Interpretation
The fashion industry is quietly pillaging the planet, generating 10% of global carbon emissions and 1.2 billion tonnes of greenhouse gases, guzzling thousands of liters of water per garment, burning 70 million barrels of oil for polyester, dumping 43 million tonnes of chemicals and dye pollution into waterways, and shedding half a million tons of microfibers into the oceans each year, so at this rate fashion will eat up roughly a quarter of the world’s remaining carbon budget by 2050.
Production Volume & Growth
- Production of clothing doubled between 2000 and 2014
- The fashion industry produces more than 100 billion garments every year
- Since 2000, the number of garment collections per year in Europe has increased from 2 to 5
- Fast fashion brands like Zara offer 24 new collections per year
- Ultra-fast fashion retailer Shein adds up to 10,000 new items to its app daily
- Global production of textile fibers increased from 58 million tons in 2000 to 109 million tons in 2020
- Polyester production volumes have increased by nearly 900% since 1980
- It takes fast fashion brands as little as 15 days to move a design from drawing board to store shelves
- The global apparel market is projected to grow from 1.5 trillion USD in 2020 to 2.25 trillion USD in 2025
- 14 million tons of cotton are produced by China and India combined annually
- 30% of fashion is produced without ever being sold
- Global footwear production reached 24.3 billion pairs in 2019
- H&M held $4.3 billion in unsold clothes inventory in 2018
- The synthetic fiber market share grew from 20% to 60% over the last 20 years
- 60% of all garments produced are made of plastic (polyester, acrylic, nylon)
- ASOS lists over 85,000 products on their site at any given time
- Clothing production per person globally has increased by 60% since 2000
- China exports $154 billion worth of textiles annually, making it the largest producer
- 3,000 billion textile and garment companies entered the market in 2018
- The timeframe for fast fashion cycles compressed from 6 months to 2 weeks over the last two decades
Interpretation
The fashion industry now runs like a high-speed copy machine for cheap, plastic garments, churning out ever more polyester-packed collections at breakneck pace and leaving mountains of unsold inventory and environmental damage in its wake.
Textile Waste & Disposal
- 92 million tonnes of textile waste is created annually worldwide
- Every second, the equivalent of one garbage truck of textiles is landfilled or burned
- Less than 1% of materials used to produce clothing is recycled into new clothing
- 85% of all textiles in the US end up in landfills or are burned
- The volume of textile waste to landfill in the UK is estimated at 350,000 tonnes a year
- 11.3 million tons of textile waste ended up in US landfills in 2018
- Between 2000 and 2015, clothing utilization decreased by 36% while waste increased
- 57% of all discarded clothing ends up in landfill
- 15 million used garments arrive in Accra, Ghana every week for resale or disposal
- 40% of the used clothing imported into Ghana ends up as waste immediately
- In the Atacama Desert in Chile, at least 39,000 tons of unsold clothing have been dumped
- Australians dispose of 6,000 kilograms of fashion and textile waste every 10 minutes
- The average American generates 82 pounds of textile waste each year
- Of the total fiber input used for clothing, 87% is incinerated or landfilled
- Textile waste is expected to increase by 60% annually between 2015 and 2030
- Only 12% of material used for clothing globally is recycled in some way (mostly downcycled)
- France bans the destruction of unsold non-food products (including clothes) worth over €800 million annually
- New York City residents throw out 200,000 tons of clothing and textiles annually
- 30% of clothes produced specifically for the UK market are never sold and go to landfill
- The EU exports 1.7 million tonnes of used textiles annually to Africa and Asia
Interpretation
We’re producing 92 million tonnes of textile waste a year—literally a garbage truck of clothes landfilled or burned every second—and with less than one percent of material recycled into new garments while millions of used items are exported, dumped or burned in vulnerable communities and fragile ecosystems, we’ve turned fashion into a fast-food habit for closets that shortens clothing lifespans, poisons places and is on track to grow roughly 60 percent by 2030 unless we change course.
References
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