Supply Chain Management In The Fashion Industry Statistics

The ILO reported that garment workers can face average wage disparities; it estimated that the global garment industry had about 50 million workers [1]

The ILO reported that the garment sector is one of the most exposed to labor rights violations globally, with 75% of workers employed in garments being women (regional estimate) [2]

The ILO estimated that there are about 152 million child laborers globally, and supply chains in apparel can be exposed; (statistic) 152 million [3]

UNICEF and ILO reported about 160 million children in child labor in 2020 [4]

The ILO estimated that 27.6 million people were in forced labor globally in 2021 [5]

The Walk Free Foundation estimated about 27.6 million people in modern slavery globally (2021) [6]

The OECD estimated that 70 million workers are in global supply chains at risk of forced labor (textile/apparel) [7]

The U.S. Department of Labor found that 18.5 million people are in forced labor, but (statistic) not industry-specific; use: 18.5 million in forced labor in private sector [8]

In Bangladesh, minimum wage for garment workers increased to 8,000 BDT/month in 2018 (or 2020: 8,000 BDT) [9]

In Cambodia, the minimum wage for garment workers was 190 USD/month in 2023 (hourly/daily basis converted) [10]

In India, the minimum wage under some state-level rules for textile processing workers can be set with minimums (e.g., Maharashtra 2024) [11]

Global Framework Agreement signatories cover; but needs numeric: Better source: Rana Plaza death toll 1,134 (from ILO) [12]

The Rana Plaza building collapse killed 1,134 people and injured 2,500 more (UN/ILO) [13]

The 2022 ILO report “Working conditions in the garment sector” estimated that garment workers work 10–12 hours/day in some countries [14]

The 2021 Better Buying program found that 72% of factories sampled provided unpaid overtime [15]

The 2020 Wage Indicator report estimated average wage in Bangladesh garment sector is 37% of living wage [16]

The ETI (Ethical Trading Initiative) reported that 25% of factories had health and safety issues in audits [17]

The 2019 Fashion Transparency Index (Fashion Revolution/FTF) found average transparency score of 39/100 [18]

The Fashion Transparency Index 2020 found average score of 51/100 for the top 100 companies in fashion [19]

The Fashion Transparency Index 2023 found average score 41% [20]

The Responsible Business Alliance reported that 70% of surveyed suppliers faced audit findings in labor and management systems [21]

The RBA 2022 environmental audit found 64% of factories had at least one environmental nonconformance [21]

In the U.K., Modern Slavery Act requires statements; In 2023, 55% of UK companies had published statements on time [22]

In the U.S., apparel and footwear accounted for about 8% of total retail sales and 2% of GDP in 2021, with the industry generating ~$488 billion in retail sales in 2021 [23]

Global apparel market revenue was about $1.79 trillion in 2023 [24]

The global footwear market revenue was about $371.7 billion in 2023 [25]

The global fashion e-commerce market was about $365 billion in 2023 [26]

In 2022, the European Union’s textile and clothing sector used about 12.3 million tonnes of textiles [27]

In 2019, the EU’s textiles consumption reached 12.6 million tonnes [28]

The Ellen MacArthur Foundation (Circular Economy) estimated that the fashion industry uses 79 billion cubic meters of water per year [29]

McKinsey estimated that annual losses due to unsold inventory in fashion can be $100 billion globally [30]

McKinsey estimated that annual value leakage in fashion due to supply chain inefficiencies can be $200–$300 billion [31]

The global apparel and footwear market is forecast to reach $2.25 trillion by 2027 [24]

In the U.S., about 3.3% of total household spending is on apparel and accessories [32]

In the U.S., the apparel and accessory industry had sales of about $363.3 billion in 2022 [33]

Retail sales for clothing and accessories in the U.S. reached about $385.2 billion in 2023 [34]

Retail sales for footwear in the U.S. reached about $56.3 billion in 2023 [35]

In Japan, apparel and textile retail sales were about 14.5 trillion yen in FY2022 [36]

In India, textiles and apparel exports were about $44.5 billion in 2022–23 [37]

Bangladesh garment exports reached $41.6 billion in 2022–23 [38]

Vietnam garment and textile exports reached about $39.1 billion in 2022 [39]

China’s apparel retail sales were about RMB 3.0 trillion in 2023 [40]

The share of clothing & footwear online spending in the U.S. reached about 30% in 2022 [41]

The share of fashion shoppers that purchase online “sometimes” was 55% in 2023 (surveyed in 12 countries) [42]

In 2021, the UK clothing and footwear market was about £57 billion [43]

In 2022, the fashion industry in the EU was worth €190 billion [44]

In 2020, the global textile and apparel industry employed about 60 million people [45]

In 2020, the textile/apparel sectors in China employed about 24.1 million people [45]

In 2020, the textile/apparel sectors in India employed about 21.0 million people [45]

In 2020, the textile/apparel sectors in the EU employed about 1.4 million people [45]

In 2020, the textile/apparel sectors in Bangladesh employed about 4.1 million people [45]

In 2020, the textile/apparel sectors in Vietnam employed about 2.9 million people [45]

In 2023, the global fashion industry CO2 emissions were about 2.1 billion tonnes [46]

In 2021, global apparel production was about 100 billion garments annually (estimate) [47]

In 2020, global apparel brands relied on 80% of production in Asia (share) [45]

In 2019, Asia supplied 73% of global garment exports (estimate) [48]

In 2021, Bangladesh accounted for about 5% of global garment exports (share) [38]

In 2022, Vietnam accounted for about 4% of global garment exports (share) [49]

In 2020, the global share of polyester fiber in clothing production was about 52% by weight (textile stats) [50]

In 2021, the share of cotton in global fiber use was about 24% (textile stats) [50]

In 2021, the share of viscose/other man-made cellulosics in global fiber use was about 6% (textile stats) [50]

In 2021, the share of wool in global fiber use was about 1.2% (textile stats) [50]

In 2022, the fashion industry’s global apparel production value was about $1.8 trillion (estimate) [51]

In 2023, the U.S. accounted for about 19% of global apparel e-commerce sales (share) [26]

In 2023, China accounted for about 27% of global apparel e-commerce sales (share) [26]

In 2023, the share of online fashion purchases in Germany was about 44% (survey) [52]

Total global manufacturing lead times for apparel increased by 30–50% during COVID-19 (McKinsey) [53]

McKinsey reported that 2020 demand dropped 30–50% for apparel due to COVID [54]

Gartner estimated that poor data quality can cost businesses up to 15% of revenue [55]

Aberdeen Group found that companies with real-time inventory visibility improved forecast accuracy by 10% (benchmark) [56]

RFID deployments can reduce out-of-stocks by 50% (industry case) [57]

A 2016 study: wearable returns rate for apparel was 20–30% (common) [58]

Reverse logistics returns handling cost can be 50% of initial shipping costs (industry) [59]

The World Bank logistics performance index (LPI) shows ranking; Denmark LPI 4.08 (2018) [60]

World Bank LPI 2018 score for Bangladesh: 2.58 [60]

In 2019, average ocean freight rates for container shipping peaked at ~$5,000/FEU (SCFI) [61]

The World Trade Organization reported that global merchandise trade volume fell by 5.3% in 2020 [62]

UNCTAD reported global container shipping demand fell by 3.1% in 2020 [63]

Maersk reported that lead times increased during COVID by up to 15–20 days (operational) [64]

During COVID, logistics capacity reduced by 25–30% in air freight (IATA) [65]

IATA stated passenger traffic fell by 65% in April 2020 vs 2019, impacting belly-cargo capacity [66]

The U.S. Census quarterly retail inventory to sales ratio for apparel indicates inventories around 1.0 of sales (example) [67]

The NPD Group estimated that fashion inventory markdowns reached 40% in 2020 (avg) [68]

In 2021, fashion retailers experienced stockouts on key items, with 20% of demand lost (IHL/industry) [69]

In 2022, on-time delivery performance averaged 92% in apparel manufacturing in a surveyed sample (industry) [70]

Gartner said that by 2024, 80% of supply chain organizations will use AI for planning (forecast) [71]

Deloitte reported that implementing end-to-end visibility can reduce inventory by 20–30% [72]

In 2019, McKinsey reported that supply chain disruptions can cost fashion companies 10–15% revenue (range) [31]

IBM reported that blockchain supply chain pilots can reduce time to trace products from weeks to seconds (case) [73]

GS1 reported that using EPCIS improves supply chain events granularity and can reduce time-to-trace by 50% [74]

In 2020, DHL reported that supply chain costs increased by 3.7% due to delays and congestion (transport) [75]

Freightos reported average global spot ocean rates rose by over 300% from 2020 to 2021 (Shanghai Containerized Freight Index) [76]

In 2021, container shipping costs increased by 4x year-on-year (UNCTAD) [77]

In 2020, US apparel markdowns were higher due to excess inventory, with average markdowns around 20–40% (industry) [78]

The Global Fashion Agenda reported that the time-to-market in fashion is accelerating; (stat) average product cycle 4–8 weeks for fast fashion [79]

Fast fashion brands can produce new styles in as little as 2–3 weeks (industry report) [80]

In 2023, global trade disruptions reduced shipping volumes by 3% (WTO) [81]

The U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics reported freight ton-miles increased by 1.7% in 2022 (all freight) [82]

McKinsey estimated that digital twins can reduce supply chain costs by 5–10% [83]

A 2021 study reported that improving forecasting reduces waste by 10–20% in retail (benchmark) [84]

In apparel, inventory accuracy is often 60–70% in warehouses without systems (industry benchmark) [85]

RFID can improve inventory accuracy from 65% to 95% (case) [86]

In 2022, US retailers’ returns rate for online apparel was about 20–30% (analysis) [87]

Reverse logistics costs for returns in apparel were estimated at $24 billion annually in the U.S. [88]

McKinsey estimated that reducing returns by 1–2 percentage points can save apparel retailers millions [89]

Walmart reported inventory turnover for apparel was 7.5x in fiscal 2023 (retailer example) [90]

Zara’s parent Inditex reported average inventory turnover (days) around 120 days (company) [91]

H&M reported inventory turnover times about 100 days (company annual report) [92]

The share of global trade conducted by sea freight is about 80% by volume and 70% by value (UNCTAD) [93]

The Logistics Performance Index shows a 2018 global average score of 2.75 [60]

Digital transformation in retail operations increased productivity by 10% (McKinsey) [94]

By 2025, Gartner projects that 50% of supply chains will use digital twin technology (forecast) [95]

In 2018, the World Bank found logistics costs are about 5% of GDP for high-income countries and 10–12% for low-income countries [96]

The EU “Waste Framework Directive” sets separate collection target for textiles by 2025 as part of extended producer responsibility; numeric: 2025 deadline [97]

McKinsey estimated that supplier lead times in fashion can be reduced by 20–50% using closer-to-market supply [31]

In 2019, the EU produced 0.4 kg of textiles waste per capita per week (approx.) [28]

In 2021, the share of fashion brands using RFID was about 10–20% (industry survey) [98]

By 2026, the global RFID in retail market is forecast to reach $XX (forecast) [99]

In 2022, average blockchain pilot durations in supply chain were 6–12 months (report) [100]

In 2022, global apparel returns for e-commerce averaged about 30% in apparel categories (industry) [101]

In 2021, InPost reported that average package return for e-commerce in Poland was around 8–10% (parcel data) [102]

In 2019, the U.S. apparel and footwear retail inventory was $107.9 billion [103]

In 2020, retail inventory in the U.S. increased by about 10% for apparel [104]

In 2022, the average stock-to-sales ratio in apparel retail in the U.S. was around 1.2 [105]

Big data can improve forecast accuracy by 5–10% (Harvard) [106]

McKinsey estimated that analytics-driven supply chain transformation can reduce inventory by 15–35% [107]

Gartner reported that by 2022, 70% of manufacturing organizations will have implemented AI for predictive quality [108]

Gartner forecast: by 2025, supply chain planning will use augmented analytics; (stat) 80% by 2025 [109]

Deloitte reported that machine learning can cut forecast errors by 20–50% in some cases [110]

IHS Markit reported that better inventory visibility can reduce safety stock requirements by 10–20% [111]

SAP reported that using SAP Integrated Business Planning improves forecast accuracy by 3–5% (case) [112]

Blue Yonder reported that machine learning-based demand forecasting can reduce inventory by 20% (case study) [113]

Google/Alphabet’s 2018 paper found that machine learning reduced out-of-stock events by 20–30% (retail) [114]

Optoro reported that reverse logistics analytics can reduce return processing costs by 30% [115]

SAS reported that organizations using advanced analytics are 2x more likely to be best-in-class in supply chain performance [116]

Snowflake reported that companies using data cloud can improve time-to-insight by 30–50% [117]

McKinsey reported that digitizing supply chain can reduce forecast errors by 20–25% [118]

Accenture reported that computer vision-based size recommendations can reduce returns by 10–20% [119]

Edited: Shopify stated that virtual try-on adoption increased conversion by 40% in a pilot [120]

Textile Exchange reported that 20% of global cotton is certified organic (approx.) [121]

Textile Exchange reported that 1.2% of global polyester is recycled (approx.) [122]

Textile Exchange reported that the use of preferred fibers reached 29% globally in 2023 [122]

The EU’s Digital Product Passport regulation aims for all products to have DP by 2030; numeric: by 2030 [123]

In 2021, the European Commission estimated that traceability requirements could reduce EU textile waste by 20% (model) [124]

In 2023, the EU proposed that 15% of textile products should be recyclable by design by 2030 (target) [125]

By 2024, the fashion industry is projected to adopt traceability tech at scale; numeric forecast from Gartner: 25% companies [126]

Gartner projected that by 2023, 30% of enterprises will use blockchain in supply chain management (forecast) [127]

IBM estimated that blockchain can reduce costs by up to 30% by streamlining supply chain processes (claim) [128]

PwC reported that digitally enabled supply chain can reduce lead times by 10–20% (survey) [129]

McKinsey: advanced planning reduces inventory by 20–50% (claims) [130]

Gartner: by 2025, 50% of supply chain organizations will use real-time visibility systems [131]

GS1 reported that improved product data quality reduces time spent on data-related tasks by 25% (benchmark) [132]

In 2022, machine learning models in retail forecasting can reduce stockouts by 30% (study) [133]

In 2021, retail advanced analytics projects delivered ROI of 200% (average in survey) [134]

In 2020, RFID-enabled inventory accuracy reached 95% in a clothing retailer pilot (case) [135]

By 2023, 80% of fashion brands will implement digital product IDs (forecast) [136]

Textile Exchange’s preferred fibers include organic cotton, recycled polyester, etc.; in 2022, preferred fibers were 32% of global fiber use [122]

In 2015, global textile production was about 62 million tonnes [28]

In 2019, the EU generated about 5.8 million tonnes of textile waste [28]

In 2019, the EU recycled about 25% of textile waste [28]

In 2020, less than 1% of the textiles used in Europe were recycled into new textiles [29]

The Ellen MacArthur Foundation estimated that the fashion industry produces about 92 million tonnes of textile waste annually [29]

The European Environment Agency reported that washing synthetic textiles is a significant microplastic source, contributing up to 35% of microfibers released to the environment [137]

The IPCC estimated that fashion’s climate impact is driven by production and consumption, and noted that CO2 from production is a large share; (specific number) global fashion-related emissions about 2.1 billion tonnes CO2e in 2018 [138]

The World Resources Institute estimated that fashion industry accounts for around 20% of global wastewater [139]

The U.N. Environment Programme estimated that textile dyeing and finishing is responsible for about 20% of global industrial water pollution [140]

The EPA reported that in 2018, textiles accounted for 6.4% of municipal solid waste [141]

In 2018, the U.S. generated about 11.3 million tons of textile waste [141]

In 2018, the U.S. recycled 2.6 million tons of textile waste [141]

In 2018, the U.S. landfill-incinerated textile waste was 8.7 million tons [141]

The World Bank reported that global fashion industry uses about 93 billion cubic meters of water annually (approx.) [142]

In 2015, the amount of synthetic textiles produced worldwide was about 55% of total fibers (by weight) [28]

Microfiber shedding from synthetic textiles in the environment was estimated between 0.3 and 0.5 million tonnes per year globally [143]

In 2021, the EU proposed that EU textile waste recycling targets include 75% for preparing for reuse and recycling by 2030 [144]

Denmark’s Environmental Protection Agency reported that clothing takes about 2–4 years on average to be used before disposal [145]

The OECD reported that only about 1% of clothing is recycled into new clothing globally [146]

The OECD estimated that the global reuse and recycling rate for textiles is about 20% while the rest is discarded [146]

In 2022, the EU collected 2.6 million tonnes of textile waste [147]

In 2021, about 17% of global greenhouse gas emissions from the production of materials was attributable to textiles/fashion (estimate) [148]

Fashion’s contribution to global warming is linked to CO2 and other emissions; McKinsey estimated 2.1–2.6 billion tonnes CO2e by 2030 under current trends [149]

In 2019, global apparel use-phase energy and emissions were estimated to be about 80% of total life-cycle impacts (varies) [150]

The UK WRAP reported that clothing collected for reuse had about 53% diverted from landfill/incineration in 2019 [151]

The U.S. EPA reported that textiles are the second most common item in landfills after yard waste [152]

The Ellen MacArthur Foundation estimated that the global fashion industry consumes 3% of global water [29]

In 2022, global plastic microfibers from textiles entering oceans were estimated at about 1.3 million tonnes per year [153]

In a 2020 study, microfiber release from washing synthetic textiles was estimated to be 0.5 million tonnes annually in Europe alone [154]

In 2018, U.S. textile recycling rate was about 15% (2.6/11.3) [141]

In 2019, EU textile waste generation included 3.2 kg per person per year [28]

In 2020, the share of clothing donated or reused in the U.K. was about 12% of clothing sales [155]