Key Insights
Essential data points from our research
Approximately 85 percent of the fur industry’s skins come from animals raised in battery cages on fur farms
More than 100 million animals are killed for their fur every year worldwide
China is the world’s largest fur producer for foxes and raccoon dogs
The global fur trade was valued at roughly $22 billion in 2019 according to industry figures
Between 2011 and 2020, the value of US mink production dropped by over 80 percent
The auction house North American Fur Auctions (NAFA) filed for creditor protection in 2019 due to market decline
Producing 1 kg of mink fur has a climate change impact 5 times higher than the highest-impact textile (wool)
The carbon footprint of one mink fur coat is estimated to be 110 kg of CO2 equivalent
Fur dressing and dyeing often utilizes formaldehyde, a known carcinogen, which has been found in fur trims on children's jackets
As of 2023, 20 European countries have voted to ban fur farming
California became the first US state to ban the sale of new fur products, effective in 2023
Israel became the first country to ban the sale of fur for fashion purposes in 2021
Over 1,500 brands have joined the international "Fur Free Retailer" program
Gucci pledged to go fur-free starting with its Spring/Summer 2018 collection
London Fashion Week became the first major fashion week to go completely fur-free in 2018
Economic Valuation & Trade
- The global fur trade was valued at roughly $22 billion in 2019 according to industry figures
- Between 2011 and 2020, the value of US mink production dropped by over 80 percent
- The auction house North American Fur Auctions (NAFA) filed for creditor protection in 2019 due to market decline
- Danish fur exports fell from €1.1 billion in 2013 to significantly lower levels following the 2020 cull
- The price of a mink pelt dropped from roughly $90 in 2013 to under $30 in 2019, making farming unprofitable for many
- Kopenhagen Fur, the world’s largest fur auction house, announced it would close by 2023 due to loss of production volume
- Fur exports from the EU to Russia declined by 50 percent following 2014 sanctions and changing oil prices
- The UK fur trade claims to generate roughly £200 million annually despite the farming ban
- Canadian fur pelt exports were valued at $320 million in 2014 but dropped to around $175 million by 2019
- LVMH and Kering bans on fur have shifted millions of dollars in luxury spending to alternative materials
- China consumes approximately 80 percent of the world’s fur products, driving the primary demand for pelts
- The economic output of the US fur industry supports fewer than 3,000 direct full-time jobs in farming as of recent estimates
- In 2020, Poland's fur sector exports were valued at approximately 280 million Euros
- Saga Furs in Finland reported a loss of nearly 10 million Euros in the 2019/2020 financial year
- Retail sales of real fur in US department stores have dropped significantly as major retailers like Macy's stopped sales
- Since 2015, the average price of fox skins at auction has decreased by roughly 30 percent
- Italy's fur industry revenue decreased by over 40 percent between 2015 and 2020
- The closure of mink farms in the Netherlands involved a government compensation scheme of roughly 180 million Euros
- Imports of fur articles into the United States fell to nearly $130 million in 2021 from much higher historical figures
- The global luxury faux fur market size is expected to reach $208 million by 2025 due to shifts away from real fur revenue
Interpretation
Once a roughly $22 billion sector, the fur trade is being skinned by collapsing pelt prices, high-profile luxury bans, sanctions and disease-driven culls that have shuttered auctions and farms, cost thousands of jobs and billions in export revenue, and funneled millions in luxury spending into faux alternatives despite China’s outsized demand.
Environmental Footprint & Toxicity
- Producing 1 kg of mink fur has a climate change impact 5 times higher than the highest-impact textile (wool)
- The carbon footprint of one mink fur coat is estimated to be 110 kg of CO2 equivalent
- Fur dressing and dyeing often utilizes formaldehyde, a known carcinogen, which has been found in fur trims on children's jackets
- Runoff from fur farms contains high levels of phosphorus and nitrogen, leading to eutrophication in local waterways
- A study found that the environmental impact of mink fur is at least 3 times higher than faux fur regarding ecosystem damage
- American mink introduced for fur farming have become invasive species in Europe, destroying local biodiversity
- Chromium and other heavy metals are frequently used in the tanning process to prevent fur from rotting
- Processing fur requires 15 times more energy than processing synthetic fur materials
- A German study found high levels of ethoxylates and azo dyes in fur products, which are restricted environmentally
- The incineration of thousands of tons of mink carcasses in Denmark raised concerns about local air quality and groundwater
- Fur farming in Finland contributes significantly to ammonia emissions which lead to soil acidification
- One kg of mink fur requires the consumption of 563 kg of feed, intensifying the agricultural carbon footprint
- The water footprint of fur production is heavily impacted by the irrigation required for the feed animals consume
- Fur dressing discharges pollutants including salts and oils that have a high biological oxygen demand (BOD) in water systems
- Soil samples near fur farms have been found to contain elevated levels of zinc and copper from animal excrement
- Escaped raccoon dogs from fur farms are a vector for rabies and parasites affecting native wildlife
- Air pollution from fur farm manure management includes hydrogen sulfide and methane emissions
- Tests in Italy found toxic residues in fur products including nonylphenol ethoxylates
- The biodiversity impact of "feed fish" extraction for fur animals contributes to the depletion of marine stocks
- Cold storage for fur garments requires continuous energy expenditure throughout the garment's lifecycle, adding to its footprint
Interpretation
If you think fashion shouldn't cost the planet, consider that producing mink fur is both an ecological and public health disaster: it has about five times the climate impact of wool and a single coat emits roughly 110 kg CO2e, while demanding huge feed and water inputs, using 15 times the processing energy of synthetic fur, relying on continuous cold storage, and involving chemical intensive dressing and tanning that leaves carcinogens, heavy metals and restricted dyes in garments, contaminates soil, waterways and air, drives eutrophication and biodiversity loss, and even produces invasive escapees that carry disease.
Global Production & Farming Volumes
- Approximately 85 percent of the fur industry’s skins come from animals raised in battery cages on fur farms
- More than 100 million animals are killed for their fur every year worldwide
- China is the world’s largest fur producer for foxes and raccoon dogs
- Prior to 2020, Denmark was the world's largest producer of mink skins producing approximately 17 million pelts annually
- To make one fur coat, it takes the skins of approximately 150 to 300 chinchillas
- Approximately 60 mink are killed to produce one average-length fur coat
- In 2022, the United States produced approximately 1.33 million mink pelts, down 15 percent from the previous year
- Poland is the second-largest fur producer in Europe after Finland, farming millions of animals
- Roughly 1 billion rabbits are slaughtered annually for fur and meat combined
- Finland produces nearly 100 percent of the blue fox fur sold globally
- In 2014, the global production of mink skins peaked at approximately 87 million pelts before declining
- Roughly half of all fur farmed in the United States comes from Wisconsin, causing it to be the top producing state
- China breeds approximately 12 million foxes annually for the fur trade
- Over 90 percent of foxes raised on fur farms are kept in wire mesh cages their entire lives
- Canada harvests over 700,000 wild animals for fur annually in addition to farming
- Raccoon dogs are bred in numbers exceeding 10 million per year in China alone
- There are approximately 2,500 fur farms remaining in the European Union as of recent counts
- Bobcat trapping for fur exports accounts for approximately 50,000 animals annually in North America
- Mink are slaughtered at approximately 6 to 8 months of age for their accumulated winter coat
- Seal hunting in Canada has a quota that often allows for over 400,000 harp seals to be killed
Interpretation
Taken together these statistics show a vast, industrial fur trade in which millions and often hundreds of millions of animals are bred, caged and slaughtered each year, with China producing millions of foxes and raccoon dogs, Finland supplying nearly all blue fox pelts, and mink, rabbit, seal and bobcat kills counted in the hundreds of thousands to millions, turning fashion into a grim arithmetic of lives per coat.
Legislation, Bans & Welfare Issues
- As of 2023, 20 European countries have voted to ban fur farming
- California became the first US state to ban the sale of new fur products, effective in 2023
- Israel became the first country to ban the sale of fur for fashion purposes in 2021
- The United Kingdom banned fur farming in 2000, yet still allows the import of fur products
- Typical cages for mink provide less than 0.3 square meters of floor space per animal
- Stereotypical behavior, such as pacing and circling, is observed in a high percentage of farmed mink due to confinement
- In 2020, COVID-19 mutations (Cluster 5) were found in mink on Danish farms, leading to a mass cull of roughly 17 million animals
- Wellesley, Massachusetts, was the first US municipality to ban the sale of fur
- A citizen's initiative to ban fur farming in the EU collected over 1.5 million valid signatures in 2023
- Cannibalism and infanticide occur on fur farms, often linked to stress and close confinement
- Foxes on fur farms are often denied the ability to dig, a fundamental natural instinct
- The "WelFur" certification program has been criticized by NGOs for setting standards that do not exceed basic legal requirements
- Wire flooring in cages causes foot deformities and injuries in a significant number of farmed rabbits
- Estonia passed a ban on fur farming that comes into full effect by 2026
- Ireland banned fur farming in 2022, closing the country's three remaining mink farms
- Mortality rates for mink offspring (kits) on farms can reach 20 percent before pelting age
- Electrocution is a common method of killing foxes to avoid damaging the pelt
- Regulations in Finland require a shadow area for foxes but do not require access to the ground
- São Paulo, Brazil, banned the import and sale of fur items in 2015
- France introduced a ban on wild animal farming for fur which became effective immediately for new farms in 2021
Interpretation
With more cities, states and countries moving to ban fur while investigations keep revealing tiny wire‑floored cages, denied instincts, stress‑driven cannibalism, high kit mortality, routine electrocutions and even a pandemic-triggered 17 million animal cull, the fur industry increasingly resembles an avoidable ethical and public health scandal propped up by weak certification and import loopholes.
Retail Trends & Fashion Industry Shifts
- Over 1,500 brands have joined the international "Fur Free Retailer" program
- Gucci pledged to go fur-free starting with its Spring/Summer 2018 collection
- London Fashion Week became the first major fashion week to go completely fur-free in 2018
- Online luxury retailer Net-A-Porter stopped selling fur in 2017
- Prada Group announced it would no longer use animal fur in its designs or products starting in 2020
- Canada Goose committed to ending the purchase of new fur by 2021 and ending manufacturing with fur by 2022
- Queen Elizabeth II officially stopped wearing new fur outfits in 2019, switching to faux fur
- The global market demand for vegan women's fashion including faux fur is projected to grow at a CAGR of 13.6 percent
- Moncler announced it would phase out fur in all its collections by 2024
- Macy's and Bloomingdale's ended the sale of fur at all their stores by the end of 2020
- Elle magazine banned fur from all its editorial content across all 45 global editions in 2021
- Versace stopped using fur in 2018, with Donatella Versace stating she didn't want to kill animals for fashion
- Farfetch, a major luxury fashion platform, banned the sale of fur in 2019
- Searches for "faux fur" increased by 150 percent on Lyst following major brand bans in 2018
- Chanel announced it would stop using exotic skins and fur in 2018, focusing on research into textiles
- Neiman Marcus Group committed to eliminating fur products from its inventory solely by 2023
- Bio-based fur alternatives made from plant ingredients (like corn) are entering the luxury market as a sustainable trend
- Dolce & Gabbana announced in 2022 that it would discontinue the use of fur and angora in all future collections
- Rent the Runway, a fashion rental service, updated its policy to no longer rent out fur products
- Saks Fifth Avenue committed to stopping the sale of products made using animal fur by early 2023
Interpretation
With Gucci, Prada, Chanel, Moncler and countless retailers and editors ditching real fur, the Queen opting for faux, searches for faux fur surging and plant-based pelts entering luxury, the message is clear: fashion is choosing conscience and innovation over animal skins.
References
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