Fashion Sustainability Statistics

The fashion industry is responsible for 8-10% of global carbon emissions

Fashion’s emissions are more than all international flights and maritime shipping combined

The apparel industry’s global emissions are projected to increase by 50% by 2030

Polyester production for textiles released about 706 million tonnes of greenhouse gases in 2015

A polyester shirt has more than double the carbon footprint of a cotton shirt (5.5kg vs 2.1kg CO2)

70% of the fashion industry's emissions come from upstream activities like material production

If the fashion sector continues on its current path it will use 26% of the carbon budget by 2050

Online shopping returns in the US alone create 15 million metric tons of CO2 annually

Buying one used item reduces its carbon footprint by 82% compared to buying new

Air freight of clothing creates 40 to 50 times more CO2 emissions than sea freight

Leather production has a high carbon potential due to methane from livestock rearing

The carbon footprint of a pair of running shoes is approximately 13.6 kg CO2e

Switching to renewable energy in the supply chain could reduce emissions by 37%

Nylon manufacturing creates nitrous oxide a greenhouse gas 300 times more potent than CO2

Garment care (washing/drying) accounts for roughly 20-25% of a garment's total carbon footprint

Fast fashion brands emit as much CO2 per year as the entire country of Germany

Localizing supply chains (nearshoring) can reduce logistics emissions by 20%

Footwear accounts for 1.4% of global greenhouse gas emissions

Skipping one in six washing loads saves the emissions equivalent of a 35-mile car drive

Organic cotton farming produces 46% less CO2e compared to conventional cotton

The average consumer buys 60% more clothing items now than 15 years ago

Consumers keep clothing items for about half as long as they did 15 years ago

50% of fast fashion items are discarded within one year of purchase

One in three young women in the UK consider clothes 'old' after wearing them once or twice

90% of consumers typically wash clothes at temperatures higher than necessary (over 30°C)

Extending the active life of 50% of UK clothes by 9 months would save 8% carbon 10% water 4% waste

60% of consumers say they are interested in sustainable fashion but only 30% buy it

The average American woman has $550 worth of unworn clothing in her closet

88% of consumers want brands to help them be more environmentally friendly

Women wear a garment just 7 times on average before getting rid of it

19% of consumers are willing to pay a premium for sustainable products

Over 33% of consumers have repaired damaged clothes to extend their life

40% of consumers have reduced clothing consumption for sustainability reasons

69% of clothes in wardrobes are not in active use

Washing clothes at 30°C instead of 40°C saves 40% energy per load

57% of consumers would boycott a brand if they found it harmed the environment

The resale market grew 21 times faster than the retail apparel market over the last three years

75% of Millennial consumers are willing to pay extra for sustainable offerings

Only 15% of consumers recycle their old clothes while the rest throw them in the trash

25% of global consumers have purchased second-hand clothing in the past year

There are approximately 75 million garment workers worldwide

Less than 2% of garment workers globally earn a living wage

80% of garment workers are women aged 18 to 35

Global clothing production doubled between 2000 and 2014

The fashion industry is the second biggest sector at risk for modern slavery

Polyester accounts for over 54% of total global fiber production

Cotton cultivation covers 2.5% of the world's arable land

93% of brands surveyed are not paying living wages to any of their suppliers

Bangladesh’s garment industry accounts for 80% of the country’s manufacturing exports

Approximately 100 billion items of clothing are produced each year

60-70% of cost in a garment is material while labor is often less than 1-3%

China produces nearly 60% of the world's chemical fibers

Forced labor in the Xinjiang region of China affects 20% of the world’s cotton supply

Organic cotton represents less than 1% of total global cotton production

The number of fashion collections per year has increased from 2 to over 50 for some major chains

3500 chemicals are used in textile production processes

A garment worker in Ethiopia earns a base salary of about $26 a month

4% of global apparel is produced in the United States

Nearly 60% of all clothing produced globally is made from plastic (polyester/nylon/acrylic)

Over 50% of workers in the fashion supply chain lack a formal contract

The fashion industry produces 92 million tons of textile waste annually

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

A truckload of textiles is dumped in landfill or incinerated every single second

The average American throws away approximately 81 pounds of clothing each year

Synthetic fibers like polyester take up to 200 years to decompose in landfills

87% of the total fiber input used for clothing is ultimately incinerated or sent to a landfill

Textile waste is estimated to increase by about 60% between 2015 and 2030

Europe exports 1.3 million tonnes of used textiles to Africa and Asia annually

15% to 20% of fabric used in garment production ends up as scraps on the cutting room floor

Only 12% of discarded clothing is recycled globally in any form (including lower-value applications)

In the UK alone 300000 tonnes of clothing end up in household bins every year

Up to 40% of clothes bought online are returned with many ending up in landfill due to processing costs

Extending the life of a garment by just 9 months reduces its waste footprint by around 20%

The secondhand clothing market is projected to be double the size of fast fashion by 2030

73% of apparel ends up burned or in landfills at the end of its life

Ghana’s Kantamanto market receives 15 million garments a week largely waste from the Global North

30% of clothes produced are never sold and often destroyed

Nylon fishing nets recycled into Econyl reduce the global warming impact of nylon by up to 90%

Circular business models like rental and resale could be worth $700 billion by 2030

85% of all textiles thrown away in the US are dumped into landfills or burned

The fashion industry consumes approximately 93 billion cubic meters of water annually

It takes about 2700 liters of water to make one cotton t-shirt

Producing a single pair of jeans requires approximately 7500 liters of water

20% of global industrial water pollution comes from textile dyeing and treatment

Textiles are the largest source of primary microplastics accounting for 35% released into oceans

About 0.5 million tonnes of microfibers are released into the ocean every year from washing synthetics

43 million tonnes of chemicals are used in textile production every year

Cotton farming consumes 16% of all insecticides globally

Traditional wet processing of textiles uses 0.5 kg of chemicals for every 1 kg of fiber

The Aral Sea has shrunk to 10% of its original size largely due to cotton irrigation

One load of laundry can release 700000 microplastic fibers into the water supply

11 hazardous chemicals found in clothing are restricted by Greenpeace’s Detox campaign

Chrome tanning of leather results in toxic chromium accumulating in water systems

Viscose production is linked to carbon disulphide poisoning of water and workers

Organic cotton uses 91% less water than conventional cotton

Digital textile printing can reduce water consumption by up to 90% compared to traditional methods

8000 synthetic chemicals are used to turn raw materials into textiles

Polyester production releases two to three times more carbon than cotton but uses less water

Dyeing and finishing contribute to 3% of global CO2 emissions and high water toxicity

Jeans treated with ozone technology reduce water usage in finishing by 50%