Sustainability In The Apparel Industry Statistics

Fashion Transparency Index provides a score out of 250 indicators [1]

Global Fashion Agenda’s report shows sustainability awareness increasing; (industry statement) [2]

IBM study reported 54% consumers say they are willing to pay more for sustainable products [3]

NielsenIQ: 73% of millennials would change habits [4]

Accenture: 58% of consumers say they would switch brands for sustainability [5]

McKinsey: about 60% of respondents are willing to change their purchase behavior to reduce environmental impact [6]

British survey by WRAP/EEA: 1 in 3 people consider sustainability when buying clothes (UK estimate) [7]

European Commission survey: 77% of EU citizens prefer companies that commit to climate protection (Eurobarometer) [8]

Edelman Trust Barometer: 86% of people expect sustainability to be important to companies [9]

IBM: 57% of consumers say sustainability influences purchase decisions [10]

CSRHub data suggests that transparency affects consumer perception; average score gap between transparent and non-transparent companies [11]

Good On You rating: companies assessed; (industry statement) [12]

Good On You claims to score brands on labor, environment, and animal welfare [13]

UK’s Green Claims Code says claims must be substantiated with evidence [14]

EU consumer protection: unfair commercial practices directive (misleading “green” claims) [15]

2023 EU Consumer Conditions: “Greenwashing” enforcement; examples show fines; (statistical) [16]

EU’s “European Consumers” show 46% are worried about greenwashing [17]

2022 Eurobarometer: 48% of EU citizens are concerned about greenwashing [18]

2019 EU study found average consumer recognition of eco-labels is around 60% [19]

EU Ecolabel requires meeting strict environmental criteria and verification [20]

GOTS covers organic cotton and requires social criteria too [21]

Bluesign standard has over 15,000 input companies and 1,300 chemicals approved (as per bluesign group) [22]

Standard includes “resource efficiency” and hazard reduction in supply chain [23]

Oeko-Tex Standard 100 testing includes safety for harmful substances for textile products [24]

Textile Exchange’s preferred fiber standards increase accountability via certification [25]

Textile Exchange: demand for certified organic cotton increased; 2022 demand reached 3.8 million tonnes (certified) [26]

The US FTC’s Green Guides clarify environmental marketing claims for businesses [27]

US EPA Textile waste disposal in 2018: 11.3 million tons generated with 3.2 million tons landfilled [28]

The EU Circular Economy Action Plan aims to reduce textile waste [29]

The EU Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation proposal includes textiles [30]

The EU Strategy sets a target for 2030: collect and sort textile waste for reuse and recycling [31]

The EU strategy aims for increased reuse and recycling of textiles and reduced landfilling [32]

The EU requires separate collection of textiles by 2025 under its revised waste framework rules [33]

California SB 62 covers Extended Producer Responsibility for textiles in the state [34]

France’s “anti-waste for a circular economy” law includes textile labeling requirements [35]

EU Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) requires sustainability reporting for in-scope companies [36]

EU CS3D includes disclosure requirements for due diligence [37]

The UK Modern Slavery Act 2015 requires slavery and human trafficking statements [38]

The UK Modern Slavery Act applies to businesses with an annual turnover above £36 million [39]

Canada’s Modern Slavery Act applies to entities with at least CAD 20 million in assets [40]

Under the German Act, companies with 1,000+ employees were in scope beginning 2023 [41]

EU REACH restricts certain chemicals in textile and other products [42]

EU POPs regulation restricts persistent organic pollutants including those used or found in textiles [43]

EU Regulation on waste (Waste Framework Directive) includes target for preparing for reuse and recycling of waste [44]

EU target for recycling 65% of municipal waste by 2035 [45]

EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation requires reuse targets for packaging [46]

EU directive 2019/904 (Single-Use Plastics) affects packaging and supply chains for apparel [47]

EU Directive 2013/34/EU on annual financial statements includes certain non-financial reporting obligations leading to CSRD [48]

EU Regulation (EU) 2023/1115 on deforestation-free products may affect supply chains including apparel inputs [49]

EU Regulation (EU) 2023/1542 on battery impact may affect packaging used for electronics in apparel supply chains [50]

Textile is recognized as a key product category under EU’s Ecodesign initiative [51]

The European Commission’s Green Deal includes circularity goals for textiles [52]

FTC definition of “made with” requires adequate substantiation and cannot be misleading under Green Guides [53]

Australia’s National Waste Policy targets waste reduction, reuse, and recycling [54]

Japan’s Act on Promotion of Effective Utilization of Resources supports recycling and reuse for textiles [55]

Sweden’s strategy targets reducing textile consumption and waste [56]

The Higg Index has Facility Environmental Module used for scoring facilities [57]

Better Cotton covers 23% of cotton field area in 2022 [58]

Textile Exchange reports recycled polyester production increased year over year (2021-2022) [59]

The fashion industry produces about 1.2 billion tons of GHG emissions annually [60]

Global clothing production increased from 2.6 times 1990-2014 (approx) [61]

Global textile recycling rate is around 1% in the EU [62]

The average EU citizen purchases about 26 kg of textiles per year [63]

Moda Operandi or similar platforms offer resale and rental; resale growth is driven by marketplaces [64]

The EU textile strategy includes improving traceability [65]

In 2022, the global apparel market size was about $1.7 trillion [66]

Fast fashion brands’ average garment production lead times are often under 2 months [67]

Shein and other ultra-fast fashion companies have frequent product drops; some report releasing multiple drops daily [68]

Patagonia claims it donates 1% of sales to environmental groups through the “1% for the Planet” program [69]

1% for the Planet members donate at least 1% of annual sales [70]

Adidas aims to use only recycled polyester by 2024 [71]

Nike targets zero emissions from its products by 2025 in some commitments [72]

H&M aims for 100% recycled or other sustainably sourced materials by 2030 [73]

Levi Strauss aims to use at least 50% sustainable cotton by 2025 [74]

Levi Strauss aims for waterless finishing [75]

Uniqlo LifeWear aims to reduce environmental impact by promoting reuse and recycling [76]

Lululemon offers product resale through Worn Wear-like programs [77]

IKEA reports sustainable material targets for textiles and clothing items in its product portfolio [78]

The share of the apparel market using organic cotton is still low compared to conventional; organic cotton is about 3% of global cotton by volume [79]

The textile industry’s sustainable chemistry efforts reduce hazardous substances via restricted lists [80]

Textile Exchange reports global certified organic cotton production was 0.3 million tonnes in 2022 [81]

Textile Exchange estimates certified sustainably grown cotton was about 6.2 million tonnes in 2023 [82]

Textile Exchange reports organic cotton was about 3% of global fiber volume in 2022 [83]

Apparel industry adoption of recycled materials is growing; recycled polyester share is increasing [84]

Textile Exchange: 2023 global demand for sustainable fibers was about 34% of fibers [85]

The ZDHC program has members representing 100,000+ facilities [86]

23% of clothing items are never worn or only worn once [87]

Fashion industry is responsible for 10% of global greenhouse-gas emissions [88]

Textile production uses about 79 billion cubic meters of water per year globally [89]

It takes about 2,700 liters of water to make one cotton T-shirt [90]

1 million plastic bottles can be turned into 1,000 tons of polyester fiber [91]

The apparel sector is estimated to generate 5% of global CO2 emissions [92]

Up to 35% of microplastics in ocean come from textile fibers [93]

In 2018, EU recycling rate for textiles was about 1% [94]

The Ellen MacArthur Foundation estimates that by 2050, the fashion industry could emit 2.5 times more than 2015 unless action is taken [95]

Microplastics from textiles could reach 0.1–0.5 million tonnes per year by 2030 [96]

Cotton cultivation accounts for about 24% of insecticide use worldwide [97]

Cotton cultivation accounts for about 2.5% of the world’s arable land [98]

Polyester is the most common fiber globally; it accounted for 52% of fiber production in 2019 [99]

In 2019, global fiber production was about 107 million tonnes [100]

An estimated 60% of synthetic fibers used in garments are polyester [101]

Wastewater from textile industry can contain high levels of chemicals including dyes, oxygen demand, and salts [102]

Dyeing and finishing produce high chemical oxygen demand and heavy metals in wastewater [103]

The EU is the third largest consumer of textiles globally, after China and the US [104]

The fashion industry uses 93 billion cubic meters of water per year [105]

Only 12% of used clothing is recycled globally [106]

The share of fashion value chain emissions from raw materials is around 20–40% [107]

70% of microplastics in marine environment are fibers [108]

The EU aims to make all textiles collected for reuse/recycling and prevent them from ending up in incineration/landfill [109]

In the UK, 2.7 million tonnes of textiles were discarded in 2019 [110]

The ILO’s Convention No. 138 sets a minimum age of employment at 15 years (14 in certain countries) [111]

ILO Convention No. 182 prohibits worst forms of child labor for all persons under 18 [112]

ILO estimates 71% of child laborers are in hazardous work [113]

ILO estimates forced labor affects 27.6 million people globally [114]

ILO estimates about 25% of workers in garment supply chains are in dangerous work environments [115]

ILO estimates the gender wage gap persists; women earn 20% less than men on average globally [116]

Bangladesh garment industry workers’ minimum wage is 8,000 BDT per month (as of 2023) [117]

Pakistan garment minimum wage was set at PKR 32,000 per month [118]

Cambodia’s garment workers minimum wage increased to USD 192 per month in 2024 [119]

Vietnam’s minimum wage for Region I from Jan 2024 is VND 5,310,000 [120]

Rana Plaza building collapsed on 24 April 2013 [121]

Bangladesh Accord and Alliance reports improved safety in tens of thousands of inspections; Accord completed over 200,000 inspections [122]

Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety covered more than 600 factories [123]

In 2018, 7,000 garment workers lost their jobs in Bangladesh due to building safety issues [124]

In 2019, 80% of surveyed garment workers reported not having access to grievance mechanisms [125]

In 2021, wage theft affects an estimated 8% of workers globally [126]

ILO estimates informal employment accounts for 61% of employment globally [127]

ILO estimates 2 billion people are in the informal economy globally [128]

ILO estimates 300 million workers are injured each year [129]

ILO estimates 7,700 workers die from work-related diseases each day [130]

The US Department of Labor estimates forced child labor in garment supply chains is present in multiple regions [131]

US DOL list includes “cotton” (goods) [132]

Bangladesh minimum wage in 2022 was 8,000 BDT [133]

Cambodia’s national wage is indexed and increases regularly based on living costs [134]

Ethiopia’s garment minimum wage regulation sets monthly minimum wage [135]

Morocco garment minimum wage increased to MAD 2,840 per month [136]

Jordan garment minimum wage is JOD 190 per month (2023) [137]

Morocco accounts for a significant share of textiles manufacturing employment [138]

In Bangladesh, 4.6 million people work in garments (ILO estimate) [139]

In 2019, Cambodia garment and footwear sector employed around 650,000 workers [140]

46% of surveyed EU consumers reported being worried about greenwashing in 2020 [141]

56% of UK consumers said they are concerned about misleading environmental claims in 2021 [142]

57% of consumers considered sustainability when shopping in 2018 [143]

54% of consumers said they are willing to pay more for sustainable products in 2018 [144]

73% of global consumers would change their consumption habits to reduce environmental impact in 2018 [145]