Sustainability In The Apparel Industry Statistics

“Fashion Transparency Index” scored brands on public disclosure; top brands have around 90+ points [1]

Fashion Transparency Index 2023 includes 258 brands evaluated [1]

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

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

IBM and National Retail Federation survey found 57% consumers consider sustainability when shopping [3]

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

NielsenIQ survey: 73% of global consumers would change consumption habits to reduce environmental impact [4]

NielsenIQ survey: 66% of consumers would be willing to pay more for sustainable brands [4]

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

Accenture survey found 62% of consumers want brands to take action on sustainability [5]

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]

The UK’s “Green Claims Code” requires businesses not to overstate environmental benefits; (statements) [14]

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

US FTC Green Guides require environmental marketing claims to not be deceptive [15]

EU consumer protection: unfair commercial practices directive (misleading “green” claims) [16]

2023 EU Consumer Conditions: “Greenwashing” enforcement; examples show fines; (statistical) [17]

EU’s “European Consumers” show 46% are worried about greenwashing [18]

2022 Eurobarometer: 48% of EU citizens are concerned about greenwashing [19]

2019 EU study found average consumer recognition of eco-labels is around 60% [20]

EU Ecolabel scheme: thousands of product categories certified [21]

EU Ecolabel requires meeting strict environmental criteria and verification [21]

Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) has thousands of licensed companies; number of certificates and sites vary by year [22]

GOTS covers organic cotton and requires social criteria too [22]

Bluesign standard has over 15,000 input companies and 1,300 chemicals approved (as per bluesign group) [23]

Standard includes “resource efficiency” and hazard reduction in supply chain [24]

Oeko-Tex Standard 100 testing includes safety for harmful substances for textile products [25]

Higg Index includes modules with scoring and verification [26]

Textile Exchange’s preferred fiber standards increase accountability via certification [27]

Better Cotton has licensed producers; by 2022 it covered around 23% of cotton farmland [28]

Textile Exchange: demand for certified organic cotton increased; 2022 demand reached 3.8 million tonnes (certified) [29]

Textile Exchange: certified recycled polyester demand reached 6.3 million tonnes in 2022 [30]

23% of clothing items are never worn or only worn once [31]

87% of textiles thrown away in the US go to landfills [32]

Fashion industry is responsible for 10% of global greenhouse-gas emissions [33]

The fashion industry accounts for about 2 billion tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions per year [34]

Textile production uses about 79 billion cubic meters of water per year globally [35]

It takes about 2,700 liters of water to make one cotton T-shirt [36]

1 million plastic bottles can be turned into 1,000 tons of polyester fiber [37]

Textile dyeing and finishing is responsible for about 20% of global industrial water pollution [38]

The global textile industry produces about 92 million tonnes of waste annually [38]

Fast fashion is estimated to increase global consumption of textiles by 400% by 2050 [38]

Microfibers from synthetic textiles are estimated to account for 35% of all ocean plastic pollution by weight [39]

Global textile waste generation is projected to rise to 134 million tonnes by 2030 [40]

In the EU, textiles are among the top categories of waste; in 2018 about 5.8 million tonnes of textile waste were generated [41]

In 2018, the EU generated 12.2 million tonnes of municipal waste from textiles [41]

In 2019, EU households consumed about 26 kg of textiles per person [42]

In the EU, clothing and footwear are among the categories with highest consumption impact [43]

In the EU, only around 1% of clothing is recycled into new clothes [42]

The Ellen MacArthur Foundation estimates that by 2050, the fashion industry could emit 2.5 times more than 2015 unless action is taken [44]

Microplastics from textiles could reach 0.1–0.5 million tonnes per year by 2030 [45]

Cotton cultivation accounts for about 24% of insecticide use worldwide [46]

Cotton cultivation accounts for about 2.5% of the world’s arable land [47]

Polyester is the most common fiber globally; it accounted for 52% of fiber production in 2019 [48]

In 2019, global fiber production was about 107 million tonnes [49]

An estimated 60% of synthetic fibers used in garments are polyester [50]

Wastewater from textile industry can contain high levels of chemicals including dyes, oxygen demand, and salts [51]

Dyeing and finishing produce high chemical oxygen demand and heavy metals in wastewater [52]

Textile industry uses around 3 trillion liters of water annually [34]

The garment sector is estimated to emit 1.2 billion tonnes of CO2 equivalent per year [34]

Lifecycle impacts of clothing are dominated by use phase and end-of-life; emissions are largely from production in many analyses [53]

The EU is the third largest consumer of textiles globally, after China and the US [54]

The fashion industry uses 93 billion cubic meters of water per year [55]

Only 12% of used clothing is recycled globally [56]

The share of fashion value chain emissions from raw materials is around 20–40% [57]

In 2018, the EU reused 5.8% of textiles [41]

In 2018, EU recycling rate for textiles was about 1% [41]

70% of microplastics in marine environment are fibers [58]

Up to 35% of microplastics in ocean come from textile fibers [39]

Textile production is projected to grow by 50% by 2030 [38]

The EU aims to make all textiles collected for reuse/recycling and prevent them from ending up in incineration/landfill [59]

Apparel accounts for around 2% of global GDP and around 2.1% of global greenhouse gas emissions [38]

The apparel sector is estimated to generate 5% of global CO2 emissions [38]

In the US, 11.3 million tons of textile waste were generated in 2018 [32]

In the US, only 15% of textile waste was recycled in 2018 [32]

In the UK, 1.9 million tonnes of textiles were sent to landfill in 2019 [60]

In the UK, 2.7 million tonnes of textiles were discarded in 2019 [60]

The EU Circular Economy Action Plan aims to reduce textile waste [61]

The EU Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation proposal includes textiles [62]

The EU Strategy for Sustainable and Circular Textiles targets making textiles sustainable by 2030 [63]

The EU Strategy sets a target for 2030: collect and sort textile waste for reuse and recycling [64]

The EU strategy aims for increased reuse and recycling of textiles and reduced landfilling [65]

The EU requires separate collection of textiles by 2025 under its revised waste framework rules [66]

California SB 62 requires textiles and carpets to meet specific labeling and recycling requirements by 2020 [67]

California SB 62 covers Extended Producer Responsibility for textiles in the state [67]

France’s “anti-waste for a circular economy” law includes textile labeling requirements [68]

EU Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) requires sustainability reporting for in-scope companies [69]

EU CS3D includes disclosure requirements for due diligence [70]

The UK Modern Slavery Act 2015 requires slavery and human trafficking statements [71]

The UK Modern Slavery Act applies to businesses with an annual turnover above £36 million [72]

Canada’s Modern Slavery Act applies to entities with at least CAD 20 million in assets [73]

The German Supply Chain Due Diligence Act (Lieferkettengesetz) applies to companies with 3,000+ employees starting in 2024 [74]

Under the German Act, companies with 1,000+ employees were in scope beginning 2023 [74]

EU REACH restricts certain chemicals in textile and other products [75]

EU POPs regulation restricts persistent organic pollutants including those used or found in textiles [76]

EU Regulation on waste (Waste Framework Directive) includes target for preparing for reuse and recycling of waste [77]

EU landfill diversion targets for municipal waste: 10% by 2035 [78]

EU target for recycling 55% of municipal waste by 2025 [78]

EU target for recycling 60% of municipal waste by 2030 [78]

EU target for recycling 65% of municipal waste by 2035 [78]

EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation requires reuse targets for packaging [79]

EU directive 2019/904 (Single-Use Plastics) affects packaging and supply chains for apparel [80]

EU Directive 2013/34/EU on annual financial statements includes certain non-financial reporting obligations leading to CSRD [81]

EU Regulation (EU) 2023/1115 on deforestation-free products may affect supply chains including apparel inputs [82]

EU Regulation (EU) 2023/1542 on battery impact may affect packaging used for electronics in apparel supply chains [83]

US EPA Textile waste disposal in 2018: 11.3 million tons generated with 3.2 million tons landfilled [32]

Textile is recognized as a key product category under EU’s Ecodesign initiative [84]

The European Commission’s Green Deal includes circularity goals for textiles [85]

The US FTC’s Green Guides clarify environmental marketing claims for businesses [15]

FTC definition of “made with” requires adequate substantiation and cannot be misleading under Green Guides [86]

Australia’s National Waste Policy targets waste reduction, reuse, and recycling [87]

Japan’s Act on Promotion of Effective Utilization of Resources supports recycling and reuse for textiles [88]

Sweden’s strategy targets reducing textile consumption and waste [89]

Denmark’s Textile action plan includes goals for collection, reuse, and recycling by 2030 [90]

Ethiopia’s textile chemicals regulations include restrictions on azo dyes [91]

Bangladesh has a ban on certain hazardous chemicals in textile dyeing under national regulations [92]

India’s textile waste management rules require producers to manage end-of-life textiles [93]

The ILO’s Convention No. 138 sets a minimum age of employment at 15 years (14 in certain countries) [94]

ILO Convention No. 182 prohibits worst forms of child labor for all persons under 18 [95]

ILO estimates 152 million children are in child labour globally [96]

ILO estimates 71% of child laborers are in hazardous work [96]

ILO estimates forced labor affects 27.6 million people globally [97]

ILO estimates women and girls account for 99% of trafficking victims in the textile and garment sector [98]

ILO estimates the gender wage gap persists; women earn 20% less than men on average globally [99]

Bangladesh garment industry workers’ minimum wage is 8,000 BDT per month (as of 2023) [100]

Pakistan garment minimum wage was set at PKR 32,000 per month [101]

Cambodia’s garment workers minimum wage increased to USD 192 per month in 2024 [102]

Viet Nam’s minimum wage increased to VND 4.68 million per month for region 1 from 2024 [103]

In the Bangladesh Rana Plaza disaster, 1,134 people were killed and about 2,500 were injured [104]

Rana Plaza building collapsed on 24 April 2013 [104]

Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh covered 1,600 factories at signing [105]

Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety covered more than 600 factories [106]

Bangladesh Accord and Alliance reports improved safety in tens of thousands of inspections; Accord completed over 200,000 inspections [105]

In 2018, 7,000 garment workers lost their jobs in Bangladesh due to building safety issues [107]

In 2019, 80% of surveyed garment workers reported not having access to grievance mechanisms [108]

In 2021, wage theft affects an estimated 8% of workers globally [109]

ILO estimates informal employment accounts for 61% of employment globally [110]

ILO estimates 2 billion people are in the informal economy globally [111]

ILO estimates about 25% of workers in garment supply chains are in dangerous work environments [98]

In global supply chains, occupational accidents claim nearly 2.3 million lives per year (ILO estimate) [112]

Fatal occupational accidents were 2.8 deaths per 100,000 workers [112]

ILO estimates 300 million workers are injured each year [112]

ILO estimates 7,700 workers die from work-related diseases each day [113]

The US Department of Labor estimates forced child labor in garment supply chains is present in multiple regions [114]

US DOL list includes “cotton” (goods) [115]

Bangladesh minimum wage in 2022 was 8,000 BDT [116]

Cambodia’s national wage is indexed and increases regularly based on living costs [117]

Vietnam’s minimum wage for Region I from Jan 2024 is VND 5,310,000 [103]

Ethiopia’s garment minimum wage regulation sets monthly minimum wage [118]

Morocco garment minimum wage increased to MAD 2,840 per month [119]

Jordan garment minimum wage is JOD 190 per month (2023) [120]

Morocco accounts for a significant share of textiles manufacturing employment [121]

In Bangladesh, 4.6 million people work in garments (ILO estimate) [122]

In 2019, Cambodia garment and footwear sector employed around 650,000 workers [123]

In 2020, Vietnam garment sector employed around 2.6 million workers [124]

In 2019, Ethiopia’s textile and garment industry employed around 200,000 workers [124]

In 2021, China is the largest apparel producer, with 50% of global export share (value) [125]

In 2022, the global apparel market size was about $1.7 trillion [126]

Fast fashion brands’ average garment production lead times are often under 2 months [127]

Shein and other ultra-fast fashion companies have frequent product drops; some report releasing multiple drops daily [128]

Patagonia claims it donates 1% of sales to environmental groups through the “1% for the Planet” program [129]

1% for the Planet members donate at least 1% of annual sales [130]

Adidas aims to use only recycled polyester by 2024 [131]

Nike targets zero emissions from its products by 2025 in some commitments [132]

H&M aims for 100% recycled or other sustainably sourced materials by 2030 [133]

Levi Strauss aims to use at least 50% sustainable cotton by 2025 [134]

Levi Strauss aims for waterless finishing [135]

Uniqlo LifeWear aims to reduce environmental impact by promoting reuse and recycling [136]

Lululemon offers product resale through Worn Wear-like programs [137]

IKEA reports sustainable material targets for textiles and clothing items in its product portfolio [138]

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 [139]

Better Cotton reaches around 40% of global cotton producers [28]

Better Cotton works with over 2.5 million farmers [28]

Better Cotton covers 23% of cotton field area in 2022 [28]

The textile industry’s sustainable chemistry efforts reduce hazardous substances via restricted lists [140]

Textile Exchange reports global certified organic cotton production was 0.3 million tonnes in 2022 [141]

Textile Exchange reports recycled polyester production was 6.3 million tonnes in 2022 [30]

Textile Exchange estimates certified sustainably grown cotton was about 6.2 million tonnes in 2023 [142]

Global demand for recycled polyester increased; recycled polyester accounted for about 20% of total polyester demand in 2023 [30]

Textile Exchange reports organic cotton was about 3% of global fiber volume in 2022 [143]

Apparel industry adoption of recycled materials is growing; recycled polyester share is increasing [144]

Textile Exchange: 2023 global demand for sustainable fibers was about 34% of fibers [145]

The ZDHC program has members representing 100,000+ facilities [146]

ZDHC Roadmap to Zero Program covers 6 wastewater-related chemicals management levels [147]

Science Based Targets initiative requires targets consistent with 1.5°C [148]

As of 2024, over 5,000 organizations have set science-based targets [149]

CDP data: global companies reporting emissions via CDP was over 20,000 in 2023 [150]

Textile and apparel brands reporting to CDP increased by 17% year-on-year in 2023 [151]

Higg Index has been used by over 25,000 sites (as of recent reporting) [152]

Higg FEM is used by many apparel brands for facility environmental modules [153]

Higg MSI platform has assessed more than 3 million workers or metrics (as claimed) [152]

The Sustainable Apparel Coalition (SAC) membership includes over 250 companies [154]

The Apparel Impact Institute measures clothing usage and impacts [155]

The Ellen MacArthur Foundation estimates circular fashion could cut emissions significantly; by 2030, reuse/repair could save about 44% emissions [156]

Circular fashion could reduce resource use; materials might be used longer [157]

Global clothing production increased from 2.6 times 1990-2014 (approx) [40]

The average number of times a garment is worn is about 7 times (industry estimate) [158]

In the EU, textile reuse and recycling targets are part of circular economy measures [159]

The EU textile strategy includes improving traceability [63]

The EU strategy includes digital product passports for textiles where applicable [160]

Digital Product Passports are intended to improve traceability and information about sustainability [160]

EU aims to introduce mandatory DPPs for certain product categories under Ecodesign measures [161]

Moda Operandi or similar platforms offer resale and rental; resale growth is driven by marketplaces [53]

The pre-owned clothing market is projected to reach $51 billion by 2023 (industry estimate) [162]

Secondhand clothing sales are projected to grow at a CAGR of about 15% [163]

Global textile recycling rate is around 1% in the EU [42]

Apparel company returns rates can be 20–30% for e-commerce (industry estimate) [164]

US retailers’ returns were estimated at $816 billion in 2020 (National Retail Federation estimate) [165]

In the US, retailers estimated their returns would be about 16.6% of sales in 2021 [165]

NRF survey estimates returns are 15% of sales for some categories [165]

In the US, 2.5 billion pounds of returned goods were resold or reused in 2020 (industry estimate) [166]

The EU’s textile waste strategy promotes sorting and improved collection [167]

In 2022, global apparel value chain emissions were 1.2 billion tons CO2e (industry estimate) [34]

In 2022, global clothing purchases reached about 80 billion items per year (industry estimate) [168]

The average EU citizen purchases about 26 kg of textiles per year [43]

The fashion industry produces about 1.2 billion tons of GHG emissions annually [34]

60% of garments are made with polyester according to textile fiber production dominance (industry estimate) [169]

24% of total cotton use is organic in some reporting; global organic cotton share is ~3% [170]

Textile Exchange reports organic cotton production increased by 6% from 2020 to 2021 (certified) [170]

Textile Exchange reports recycled polyester production increased year over year (2021-2022) [30]

ZDHC reports that thousands of chemical tests are performed annually across its member network [171]

ZDHC results include progress against wastewater performance [172]

100% of ZDHC MRSL is aligned with strict restricted substances lists [173]

The Higg Brand & Retail Module helps companies measure sustainability performance; it includes 4 modules [174]

The Higg Facility Environmental Module (FEM) includes energy, water, materials, waste, and emissions categories [175]

The Higg Index has Facility Environmental Module used for scoring facilities [26]