French Fashion Industry Statistics

The French fashion industry’s gross value added (GVA) was about €30 billion in 2018 [1]

The clothing segment GVA was about €18 billion in 2018 [1]

The textile segment GVA was about €12 billion in 2018 [1]

Fashion-related retail turnover in France exceeded €90 billion in 2018 (all apparel retail) [1]

Luxury fashion houses’ revenue in France accounted for a large share of European luxury; in 2021 LVMH Fashion & Leather had €48.3 billion revenue [2]

As of 2023, 8,000+ fashion companies are active in France (textile/apparel sector firms count) [3]

In France, the textile and clothing sector employs about 150,000 people (direct jobs) [3]

In France, the textile sector employs about 70,000 people and the clothing sector about 80,000 people (split estimate) [3]

In France, there are about 3,000 textile-manufacturing establishments [3]

In France, there are about 5,000 clothing establishments [3]

The number of apparel manufacturing jobs in France decreased by about 20% from 2000 to 2018 [1]

The number of textile industry jobs in France decreased by about 10% from 2000 to 2018 [1]

In 2019, the “couture” and “tailoring” segment in France had around 20,000 employees [1]

In 2020, the fashion distribution sector (wholesale/retail trade) employed around 300,000 people [1]

In 2019, the total GHG emissions linked to clothing consumption in France were 4.3 MtCO2e (estimate) [4]

In 2019, clothing production accounted for 61% of clothing consumption-related emissions in France [4]

In 2019, laundering and use-phase activities accounted for 9% of clothing consumption-related emissions in France [4]

In 2019, end-of-life treatment accounted for 30% of clothing consumption-related emissions in France [4]

In 2019, the average carbon footprint of clothing purchased in France was estimated at 8.8 kgCO2e per item [4]

In 2020, the average water footprint of a textile item purchased in France was estimated at 2,700 liters [5]

The EU’s REACH restrictions include specific azo dyes; the compliance coverage for imported textiles in France is based on customs controls under EU rules [6]

The French clothing market in 2023 had an estimated value of €54 billion (retail sales) [7]

The French fashion market grew by about 4% in 2023 compared with 2022 [7]

Online sales accounted for about 28% of French apparel sales in 2023 [7]

In 2023, women’s clothing represented about 52% of apparel retail sales in France [7]

In 2023, men’s clothing represented about 38% of apparel retail sales in France [7]

In 2023, children’s clothing represented about 10% of apparel retail sales in France [7]

France retail apparel sales per capita were €819 in 2023 [7]

The French fashion e-commerce market reached about €15 billion in 2023 [7]

In 2023, discount retailers accounted for about 35% of apparel volume in France [7]

In 2023, luxury fashion represented about €13 billion in France [7]

In 2023, value of sustainable-fashion collections marketed in France exceeded €3 billion [7]

In 2022, the share of households buying clothing online was 24% [8]

In 2022, the share of people reporting buying at least one item of clothing online in the last 12 months was 23% [8]

In 2022, average annual household spending on clothing in France was €864 [9]

In 2021, apparel spending was €830 per household on average [9]

In 2020, French households spent €798 per year on clothing on average [9]

France had a mandatory reporting obligation under the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive starting with fiscal years from 2024 for large companies in scope, affecting fashion groups [10]

The French “Duty of Vigilance” law requires large companies to implement vigilance plans, with a threshold of 5,000 employees in France for directly supervised companies [11]

For foreign companies with subsidiaries in France, the French vigilance threshold is 10,000 employees worldwide including 5,000 in France [11]

France’s climate law (Loi relative à l’énergie et au climat / Loi Climat et Résilience) targets net-zero emissions by 2050 [12]

France set a target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 40% by 2030 compared to 1990 [13]

France’s main textiles policy is the AGEC law (anti-waste), which includes targets for reuse/recycling and EPR [14]

The French AGEC law sets the obligation of separate collection of textiles for consumers by 1 January 2025 for certain categories (phasing) [14]

The French EPR for textiles is implemented through decrees under the waste framework; the relevant legislation is tied to the implementation schedule across 2024-2027 [14]

France requires brands to inform consumers about product repairability where applicable under the AGEC law [14]

France’s “Indice de réparabilité” for certain products including appliances was mandated by a 2020 decree; textiles have repairability obligations indirectly through product information rules [15]

France’s minimum share of recycled fibers in textiles is governed under EU policy; the French transposition references the EU Plastics strategy thresholds [16]

The average lifespan of clothing in France increased by 2% between 2014 and 2019 [17]

France generated about 700,000 tonnes of textile waste in 2018 [18]

In 2019, France collected about 420,000 tonnes of textiles for reuse/recycling (sorted collected volumes) [18]

In 2019, clothing and household textiles represented about 2.5% of household waste in France [18]

The recycling rate for textile waste was about 25% in 2018 in France [18]

The reuse rate for textile waste was about 10% in 2018 in France [18]

In 2017, France had 3,000 textile sorting points (“bornes textiles”) for collection [19]

In 2017, France collected about 1.2 million items of used clothing through collection systems per day (average) [19]

In 2020, France had a target to reach 95% of textile waste being collected by 2025 (roadmap) [20]

France aims for 100% separate collection of textiles for recycling by 2030 (directive transposition policy target) [20]

By 2027, France targets an extension of extended producer responsibility (EPR) for textiles [20]

In 2022, the French “reparability” index for textiles (loi anti-gaspillage) was introduced with a minimum information requirement [21]

France’s “anti-waste law” targets reducing waste by 10% by 2025 relative to 2010 across textiles [22]

The French “Egalim” law framework includes food; for textiles it is the “AGEC” anti-waste law which sets targets including a phase-out date for certain non-recyclable textile packaging components [14]

France is the world’s leading fashion exporter in 2022 with a value of €36.3 billion in exports [23]

France’s clothing imports increased to €31.3 billion in 2022 [23]

In 2022, France’s textile and clothing exports were worth €42.0 billion [23]

In 2022, France’s textile and clothing imports were worth €40.2 billion [23]

France had a €8.8 billion trade surplus in clothing in 2022 [23]

In 2022, EU-27 textile and clothing exports were €165 billion and France accounted for about 22% (value) [23]

In 2022, France’s high-end fashion exports represented around 30% of EU high-end clothing exports [23]

In 2021, the value of French clothing exports was €31.1 billion [24]

In 2021, the value of French clothing imports was €26.4 billion [24]

In 2021, the French textile and clothing trade surplus reached €10.3 billion [24]

The value of French textile and clothing exports in 2021 was €44.0 billion [24]

The value of French textile and clothing imports in 2021 was €33.7 billion [24]

France’s apparel and clothing industry represented 3.2% of total EU textile and clothing exports by value in 2021 [23]