Slow Fashion Statistics

The global secondhand apparel market reached $197 billion in 2023 [1]

The global secondhand apparel market is expected to reach $350 billion by 2028 [1]

The US secondhand apparel market reached $43 billion in 2023 [1]

Online resale is expected to nearly double by 2028 [1]

52% of consumers shopped secondhand apparel in 2023 [1]

67% of consumers say they look for more affordable ways to shop [1]

59% of consumers say they are seeking higher-quality apparel items [1]

55% of consumers say they are looking for more environmentally friendly shopping options [1]

33% of younger consumers bought secondhand apparel in 2023 [2]

The global resale market grew 15% in 2023 [2]

The global secondhand fashion market is projected to grow 2.7 times faster than the overall global apparel market by 2028 [1]

65% of women say they keep clothes in their wardrobe that they never wear [3]

UK consumers have an estimated £30 billion worth of unworn clothes in their wardrobes [3]

Around 3.6 billion items of clothing remain unworn in UK wardrobes [3]

The average UK adult has 118 items of clothing in their wardrobe [3]

The average UK adult has 33 items of clothing that have not been worn in the last year [3]

16% of clothes in the average wardrobe are unworn [3]

30% of clothes in the average wardrobe have not been worn for at least a year [3]

The average active life of a garment is 3.3 years [3]

82% of Gen Z and Millennial consumers consider sustainability when purchasing apparel [1]

46% of consumers say they have sold apparel secondhand [1]

40% of retail executives say resale will be a significant revenue driver in 2024 [1]

76% of retail executives say their customers are already participating in resale [1]

94% of retail executives say customers are participating in resale due to affordability [1]

54% of consumers say seeing a brand offer resale increases their likelihood to shop with that brand first [1]

The global ethical fashion market size was valued at $7.57 billion in 2023 [4]

The global ethical fashion market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 6.6% from 2024 to 2030 [4]

The second-hand product segment accounted for 42.6% of ethical fashion revenue in 2023 [4]

Asia Pacific accounted for 32.2% of the ethical fashion market in 2023 [4]

The global apparel resale market is expected to be worth $367 billion by 2029 [5]

The global fashion industry is responsible for 10% of annual global carbon emissions [6]

Fashion emissions are projected to rise by more than 50% by 2030 [7]

The fashion industry is responsible for about 20% of global wastewater [7]

Fashion is responsible for 8-10% of global carbon emissions [7]

Producing a cotton shirt requires about 2,700 litres of water [8]

Producing one pair of jeans requires about 7,500 litres of water [9]

Textile production is responsible for about 20% of global clean water pollution from dyeing and finishing products [10]

The fashion industry uses around 93 billion cubic metres of water annually [9]

Washing synthetic clothes accounts for 35% of primary microplastics released into the environment [10]

The textile sector was the third largest source of water degradation and land use in 2020 in the EU [11]

Textiles was the fifth largest source of raw material use and greenhouse gas emissions in the EU in 2020 [11]

Global fibre production reached a record 116 million tonnes in 2022 [12]

Polyester accounted for 54% of global fibre production in 2022 [12]

Recycled fibres represented only 7.9% of the global fibre market in 2022 [12]

Less than 1% of recycled fibre input came from pre- and post-consumer recycled textiles in 2022 [12]

Apparel and footwear consumption in the EU generated the fifth highest environmental and climate pressures from household consumption in 2022 [11]

EU consumption of textiles required 9 cubic metres of water, 400 square metres of land, 391 kilograms of raw materials and caused a carbon footprint of 270 kilograms per person in 2020 [11]

Textile purchases in the EU in 2020 generated about 121 million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions [11]

Textile purchases in the EU in 2020 used about 104 cubic metres of water [11]

Textile purchases in the EU in 2020 used 1.3 tonnes of raw materials per person [11]

Textile purchases in the EU in 2020 occupied around 12 square metres of land per person [11]

69% of all fibres produced in 2022 were synthetic [12]

Global cotton fibre production was 24.9 million tonnes in 2022 [12]

Manmade cellulosic fibre production reached 7.2 million tonnes in 2022 [12]

Nylon represented 5% of global fibre production in 2022 [12]

Cellulosic fibres represented 6% of total fibre production in 2022 [12]

87% of the total fibre input used for clothing is made into final clothing that is eventually disposed of [13]

Clothing production approximately doubled between 2000 and 2015 [7]

The average person buys 60% more clothing items than 15 years ago [7]

The textile value chain employs 75 million people globally [14]

Less than 2% of garment workers worldwide earn a living wage [15]

80% of apparel is made by young women between the ages of 18 and 24 [16]

Women make up 80% of the global garment workforce [17]

1 in 6 people working worldwide are employed by the fashion industry [6]

The collapse of Rana Plaza killed more than 1,100 people in 2013 [18]

The textile, clothing, leather and footwear industry in the EU employed 1.3 million people in 2020 [19]

There are 143,000 companies in the EU textile ecosystem [19]

The EU textile ecosystem generated a turnover of EUR 147 billion in 2020 [19]

99% of companies in the EU textile ecosystem are SMEs [19]

The garment industry is the second largest employer of women worldwide [17]

Women occupy only 25% of leadership roles in top fashion companies [20]

42% of workers interviewed in Indian garment factories said they had no access to paid sick leave [21]

71% of women garment workers surveyed in Asia reported verbal abuse at work [22]

43% of women garment workers surveyed in Asia reported sexual harassment [22]

60% of women garment workers surveyed in Asia reported intimidation or threats [22]

47% of women garment workers surveyed in Asia reported forced overtime [22]

76% of garment workers in Bangladesh surveyed by CARE reported food insecurity during the pandemic [23]

72% of women garment workers surveyed had gone without food during the pandemic [23]

79% of women garment workers surveyed had missed a meal during the pandemic [23]

The Better Cotton programme reached 2.13 million farmers in the 2022-23 season [24]

Better Cotton farmers produced 5.47 million tonnes of Better Cotton in the 2022-23 season [24]

Better Cotton accounted for 22% of global cotton production in the 2022-23 season [24]

Organic cotton represented 1.4% of global cotton production in 2021-22 [12]

Recycled polyester accounted for 14.8% of total polyester production in 2022 [12]

Recycled polyester production reached 8.9 million tonnes in 2022 [12]

Virgin fossil-based synthetic fibres still accounted for 67% of total global fibre production in 2022 [12]

Preferred fibre and materials represented 40% of total global fibre production in 2022 [12]

Certified and recycled manmade cellulosic fibres accounted for 59% of MMCF production in 2022 [12]

Responsible Wool Standard and ZQ certified wool reached 4.5% of wool production in 2022 [12]

Responsible Mohair Standard and sustainable mohair represented 29% of mohair production in 2022 [12]

Responsible Alpaca Standard and other certified alpaca reached 4% of alpaca production in 2022 [12]

Certified down accounted for 3% of down production in 2022 [12]

Forest Stewardship Council certified viscose and lyocell accounted for 56% of MMCF production in 2022 [12]

Recycled cotton represented less than 1% of global cotton production in 2022 [12]

Recycled nylon accounted for 2.9% of global nylon production in 2022 [12]

Recycled wool represented 6% of global wool production in 2022 [12]

Regenerative cotton programmes covered 0.2% of global cotton production in 2022 [12]

The Global Organic Textile Standard certified over 14,000 facilities in 2023 [25]

GOTS-certified facilities grew by 7.2% in 2023 [25]

India had 3,137 GOTS-certified facilities in 2023 [25]

Türkiye had 1,948 GOTS-certified facilities in 2023 [25]

China had 1,823 GOTS-certified facilities in 2023 [25]

Germany had 815 GOTS-certified facilities in 2023 [25]

Pakistan had 806 GOTS-certified facilities in 2023 [25]

The OCS 100 standard certified 9,022 facilities in 2023 [26]

The Recycled Claim Standard certified 13,101 facilities in 2023 [26]

The Global Recycled Standard certified 12,648 facilities in 2023 [26]

The Responsible Wool Standard certified 1,990 facilities in 2023 [26]

The preferred cotton market represented 27% of all cotton production in 2022 [12]

60% of all clothing ends up in landfill or incinerators within one year of being made [13]

Less than 1% of material used to produce clothing is recycled into new clothing [13]

The global fashion industry produces 92 million tonnes of textile waste per year [6]

A garbage truck’s worth of textiles is landfilled or burned every second [13]

87% of the total fiber input used for clothing is ultimately incinerated or landfilled [13]

The average US consumer throws away 81.5 pounds of clothes each year [27]

The equivalent of one garbage truck full of clothes is burned or buried in landfill every second [7]

In 2018, landfills received 11.3 million tons of MSW textiles in the United States [28]

Textiles represented 7.7% of all municipal solid waste landfilled in the United States in 2018 [28]

The textile recycling rate in the United States was 14.7% in 2018 [28]

17 million tons of textile municipal solid waste were generated in the United States in 2018 [28]

2.5 million tons of textiles were recycled in the United States in 2018 [28]

3.2 million tons of textiles were combusted with energy recovery in the United States in 2018 [28]

The amount of clothing bought in the EU has increased by 40% in just a few decades [10]

Europeans consume nearly 26 kilograms of textiles and discard about 11 kilograms of them every year [11]

Only about 1% of used clothes are recycled into new clothes in Europe [11]

Around 4 million tonnes of textile waste is generated in Europe each year [29]

The average number of times a garment is worn has decreased by 36% compared to 15 years ago [13]

Extending the life of clothes by an extra 9 months can reduce carbon, water and waste footprints by around 20-30% each [3]

Clothing utilisation has decreased by 36% compared to 15 years ago [30]

73% of clothing ends up in landfill or incineration [14]

Only 12% of the material used for clothing ends up being recycled [14]

Less than 1% of clothes are recycled back into clothing [14]

The average lifetime of garments has fallen by 35% over the last 15 years [7]

57% of discarded clothing in Europe is exported outside the EU [29]

38% of donated clothes in Europe are reused within Europe [29]

33% of donated textiles in Europe are recycled as rags or insulation [29]

700,000 tonnes of used textiles are collected separately in the EU each year [29]

By 2025, all EU member states must establish separate collection for textiles [10]