Key Insights
Essential data points from our research
93% of brands surveyed by Fashion Checker were not paying garment workers a living wage
The minimum wage for garment workers in Bangladesh is approximately $75 per month while a living wage is estimated to be $480
Garment workers in Ethiopia are among the lowest paid in the world earning as little as $26 a month
The fashion industry produces 20% of global wastewater
Fashion production makes up 10% of humanity's carbon emissions
85% of all textiles go to the dump each year rather than being recycled
The Rana Plaza collapse in 2013 killed 1134 garment workers
Over 2500 workers were injured in the Rana Plaza collapse
50% of garment workers suffer from musculoskeletal disorders due to repetitive motions
100 billion items of clothing are produced each year
Consumers buy 60% more clothing items today than they did in the year 2000
The average number of times a garment is worn has decreased by 36% compared to 15 years ago
80% of the world's 75 million garment workers are women aged 18-35
170 million children are engaged in child labor with many in the textile and garment supply chain
1 in 3 female garment workers in Vietnam has reported sexual harassment in the workplace
Environmental Impact
- The fashion industry produces 20% of global wastewater
- Fashion production makes up 10% of humanity's carbon emissions
- 85% of all textiles go to the dump each year rather than being recycled
- Washing clothes releases 500000 tons of microfibers into the ocean each year
- It takes about 2700 liters of water to make one cotton shirt
- The apparel industry dumps over 92 million tonnes of waste annually
- Textile dyeing is the second largest polluter of water globally
- A single pair of jeans requires 7500 liters of water to produce
- Every second the equivalent of one garbage truck of textiles is landfilled or burned
- 35% of all microplastics in the ocean come from the laundering of synthetic textiles
- The fashion industry consumes 79 trillion liters of water annually
- Polyester production releases two to three times more carbon emissions than cotton
- 60% of materials used by the fashion industry are plastic-based like polyester
- Buying just one white cotton shirt produces the same amount of emissions as driving 35 miles
- Less than 1% of materials used to produce clothing is recycled into new clothing
- Cotton farming is responsible for 24% of insecticides and 11% of pesticides globally
- The Citarum River in Indonesia is considered the most polluted river in the world largely due to 400 textile factories
- Fast fashion emissions are projected to grow by 50% by 2030
- 70 million barrels of oil constitute the polyester used in fabrics each year
- Viscose production is linked to the deforestation of 150 million trees annually
Interpretation
Fast fashion sells you a bargain while charging the planet the rest of the bill: one cotton shirt can swallow thousands of liters of water and a pair of jeans even more, mills spew half a million tons of microfibers and toxic dyes into waterways, 85% of textiles end up in dumps, the industry is responsible for roughly 10% of global carbon emissions and leans on oil-hungry polyester and deforestation, so our cheap impulse purchases are really long-term environmental debt.
Health & Safety
- The Rana Plaza collapse in 2013 killed 1134 garment workers
- Over 2500 workers were injured in the Rana Plaza collapse
- 50% of garment workers suffer from musculoskeletal disorders due to repetitive motions
- In Dhaka 60% of garment factory buildings were found to be vulnerable to collapse
- Garment workers are often forced to work 14 to 16 hours a day 7 days a week
- Since 1990 more than 400 workers have died in garment factory fires in Pakistan alone
- 90% of workers in the leather tanning industry in Bangladesh die before age 50 due to toxic chemicals
- Workers sandblasting denim for the distressed look contract silicosis a fatal lung disease
- In 2012 the Ali Enterprises fire in Pakistan killed 254 garment workers due to barred windows and locked exits
- 80% of garment workers report not having access to potable water at work
- 25% of garment workers in Bangalore reported being refused toilet breaks
- The Tazreen Fashions fire in 2012 killed 112 workers because fire escapes were lacking
- Regular exposure to formaldehyde in textile factories increases cancer risk by 30%
- 40% of workers in Cambodian manufacturing faint at work due to malnutrition and heat
- During the pandemic factory outbreaks were common with a 20% infection rate in some Sri Lankan factories
- Hearing loss is reported by 25% of textile workers due to unmitigated machinery noise
- Byssinosis or brown lung disease affects thousands of cotton mill workers globally
- Garment workers who become pregnant are often fired or reassigned to dangerous tasks to force resignation
- In the Tirupur garment hub suicide rates among young female workers are higher than the national average
- 60% of factories inspected in Bangladesh lacked adequate fire fighting equipment
Interpretation
These staggering statistics show that the bargain‑basement prices of fast fashion are literally bought with human lives and health, from Rana Plaza and deadly factory fires to toxic chemicals, forced 14 to 16 hour shifts, barred exits, malnutrition fainting, denied toilet breaks and the routine stripping away of workers’ basic rights.
Labor Rights & Wages
- 93% of brands surveyed by Fashion Checker were not paying garment workers a living wage
- The minimum wage for garment workers in Bangladesh is approximately $75 per month while a living wage is estimated to be $480
- Garment workers in Ethiopia are among the lowest paid in the world earning as little as $26 a month
- Between 2020 and 2021 garment workers globally lost $11.85 billion in unpaid wages and severance
- Less than 2% of the people who make the clothes on our bodies earn a living wage
- In the UK suppliers in Leicester were found paying workers £3.50 an hour which is less than half the minimum wage
- 77% of UK retailers believe there is likely modern slavery in their supply chains
- It takes a garment worker 18 months to earn what a top fashion brand CEO earns on their lunch break
- Only 4 cents of the price of a $30 t-shirt goes to the worker who made it in the Global South
- Approximately 25 million people are trapped in forced labor worldwide with many in the fashion supply chain
- 50% of the surveyed garment factories in India did not pay the legal minimum wage
- Garment workers in Los Angeles earn an average of $5.85 per hour due to piece-rate pay loopholes
- 35% of all forced labor cases are found in the manufacturing sector which includes garment production
- During the COVID-19 pandemic brands refused to pay for $16 billion worth of goods already produced depriving workers of wages
- The largest fashion brands claim to encourage unions but fewer than 10% of workers worldwide have union representation
- Research suggests more than 1 million Uyghurs have been detained in camps often associated with cotton production
- Cambodian garment workers reported a 20% decrease in wages during the pandemic despite increased living costs
- In Vietnam the gap between the minimum wage and a living wage is approximately 64%
- 98% of garment workers in Myanmar reported not receiving their full wages during political instability
- Only 5% of major fashion brands can demonstrate that they pay their workers a living wage
Interpretation
Put bluntly, these statistics show that while top fashion CEOs can earn in a lunch break what a garment worker toils 18 months to make, less than two percent of the people who sew our clothes get a living wage, millions are trapped in forced or unpaid labor from Bangladesh to Myanmar, unions are almost nonexistent, and during the pandemic brands refused to pay billions for finished orders, turning the cheap garments on our backs into someone else’s lifelong debt and danger.
Production & Consumption Volume
- 100 billion items of clothing are produced each year
- Consumers buy 60% more clothing items today than they did in the year 2000
- The average number of times a garment is worn has decreased by 36% compared to 15 years ago
- The fast fashion market size was valued at $106.42 billion in 2022
- One garbage truck of clothes is burned or landfilled every second largely due to overproduction
- Up to 30% of fashion products made are never sold and end up destroyed
- Shein adds approximately 6000 new styles to its website every single day
- Clothing production has doubled between 2000 and 2014
- The average American throws away approximately 81 pounds of clothing per year
- 40% of clothes purchased in some developed nations are never worn
- The global volume of textile fiber production increased from 58 million tonnes in 2000 to 109 million tonnes in 2020
- Fast fashion brands like Zara have a design-to-retail cycle of just 2 to 4 weeks
- 5.2% of the waste in US landfills is textiles mostly from discarded clothing
- The value of unworn clothing in wardrobes in the UK is estimated at £30 billion
- Online return rates for fashion are between 30% and 40% creating massive reverse logistics waste
- Between 2000 and 2015 the number of clothing collections released by European apparel companies rose from 2 to 5 per year
- Global consumption of apparel is projected to rise by 63% to 102 million tons by 2030
- Fast fashion giant H&M reported $4.3 billion in unsold inventory in 2018
- 60% of German consumers admit to buying clothes they do not need
- The textile industry is growing at a rate of 4.4% annually driven by fast fashion demand
Interpretation
Fast fashion has turned clothing into disposable ephemera, with factories producing about 100 billion garments a year while consumers buy 60% more and wear items 36% less, brands like Shein adding thousands of new styles daily and retailers racing out multiple collections per year, leaving up to 30% of product unsold, billions in unworn wardrobe value, one garbage truck of clothes burned or landfilled every second, and mountains of returns and inventory that translate into environmental devastation and economic waste.
Social Demographics & Gender
- 80% of the world's 75 million garment workers are women aged 18-35
- 170 million children are engaged in child labor with many in the textile and garment supply chain
- 1 in 3 female garment workers in Vietnam has reported sexual harassment in the workplace
- In the spinning mills of Tamil Nadu 60% of workers are Dalit women facing caste-based discrimination
- Women in the garment sector are paid 18% less on average than their male counterparts
- 90% of workers in the Cambodian garment industry are women
- 43% of female garment workers in Bangalore reported experiencing sexual violence at work
- In Bangladesh's garment sector 60% of female workers lack a written contract
- Migrant workers in Thailand's garment sector earn 25% less than local Thai workers
- Children as young as 6 or 7 are found working in cotton fields in India and Uzbekistan
- 75% of female garment workers in Indonesia have experienced verbal abuse
- Syrian refugee children have been documented working in Turkish sweatshops supplying European brands
- Less than 15% of management positions in garment factories are held by women despite them being the majority workforce
- 61% of garment workers in Jordan are migrants often stripped of their passports
- In 2018 80% of workers in the Ethiopian garment industry were under the age of 25
- Female garment workers in El Salvador have a 40% prevalence rate of untreated repetitive strain injuries
- Discrimination against pregnant women affects 25% of the workforce in Lesotho's textile industry
- The Sumangali Scheme in India employs thousands of young girls under promises of a wedding dowry that is often withheld
- 70% of female workers in Guangzhou garment factories are internal migrants without city residency rights
- Female workers in garment factories report a 15% higher rate of anemia than the general population due to poverty wages
Interpretation
Fast fashion's glamour masks an industry powered largely by young women, many of them migrants, Dalits or children, who are paid less, denied contracts and promotions, subjected to sexual and verbal violence, and forced to trade their health and childhood for garments that line distant brands' pockets.
References
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