Indonesia Textile Industry Statistics

Indonesia's textile industry, contributing 6.05 percent to non oil and gas processing GDP and climbing into the global top ten with about USD 13.8 billion in exports before easing to USD 11.6 billion in 2023, punches above its roughly 2 percent share of world demand thanks to strong yarn and man made fiber shipments and a West Java hub that supplies nearly 40 percent of exports, yet heavy reliance on markets such as the United States which takes about 35 percent of knitted fabric exports, a 12 percent narrowing of the trade surplus, post pandemic volatility and technical textile exports under USD 100 million show the sector is capable but vulnerable unless it diversifies products and moves up the value chain.

Indonesia is ambitiously weaving protection, subsidies and trade liberalization into an Industry 4.0 blueprint—offering safeguard tariffs, zero cotton duties, subsidized gas, machine reimbursements, FTAs and full foreign ownership to chase a top-five global textile spot by 2030, yet heavy compliance costs from wastewater standards, local-content rules and labor-law changes, together with global uncertainty, have cooled investment despite branding campaigns and MSME support.

Think of Indonesia's textile industry as a fast-moving loom weaving billion-dollar opportunities: the market is set to reach USD 22 billion by 2025 while modest and Muslim fashion, ranked third globally and valued at about USD 6 billion, drive demand as local brands capture 30 percent of the mid-market and e-commerce plus TikTok Shop, used by 20 percent of shoppers, rewires retail after a 20 percent online sales jump in 2022; rising interest in sustainable fabrics up 12 percent, strong segments such as sportswear growing 9 percent, children's wear accounting for 15 percent of revenue and a 7 percent rebound in home textiles exist alongside persistent price sensitivity at 45 percent and industrial-scale inputs of 1.6 million tons of raw materials and USD 3.8 billion in fabrics revenue, all anchored in Java and wholesale hubs even as thrifting faces regulatory pressure and a steady 5.54 percent CAGR reshapes the sector.

The Indonesian textile industry is a study in contrasts, simultaneously the world’s largest viscose rayon producer and a maker of millions of yarns, garments, polyester fibers and shoes, yet it meets less than half a percent of its cotton needs at home while importing 99 percent, runs mostly on two-decade-old machinery and operates at just 60 percent capacity with Industry 4.0 adoption below 15 percent, faces hefty energy and water bills even as the Citarum revitalization forces wastewater compliance by 2025, and despite strengths like 80 percent local PTA/MEG supply, rapid digital printing growth, rising solar adoption and a dramatic PPE surge, it urgently needs investment and restructuring to turn scale into sustainable competitiveness.

Indonesia’s textile industry, which directly employs about 3.65 million people and is roughly 58 percent female and 80 percent young, is spinning threads and tensions alike, supplying nearly one fifth of manufacturing jobs while relying on low pay of about IDR 2.4 to 4.5 million in West Java and roughly 0.95 USD per hour, seeing a 40 percent wage-driven shift to Central Java, housing one million informal batik workers and 30 percent contract staff, suffering only 2 percent annual productivity growth and an 18 percent gender pay gap plus over 60,000 layoffs in 2023 after nearly 2 million pandemic furloughs, so rising vocational enrollment, modest union presence and stronger compliance must quickly translate into real upskilling and stable jobs or competitiveness will keep coming at workers’ expense.