Swimwear Industry Statistics

Top swimwear retailers include SwimOutlet and Amazon; SwimOutlet’s product catalog count is 8,000+ swimwear items (catalog metric) [1]

Amazon lists a large number of swimsuits; one page indicates thousands of results (example count) [2]

Speedo is a major brand; Speedo’s official racing swimwear line lists “FASTSKIN” series (brand portfolio) [3]

TYR is a major brand; TYR “briefs” product listing exists with multiple SKUs (brand portfolio) [4]

Arena is a major competitive brand; Arena’s official site lists competition swimwear categories (brand portfolio) [5]

Adidas is a major brand in swimwear; Adidas swimwear products page (brand portfolio) [6]

Nike’s swimwear line includes products; Nike swimwear collection page [7]

H&M sells swimwear; H&M swimwear category page (portfolio) [8]

Zara sells swimwear; Zara swimwear category page (portfolio) [9]

Victoria’s Secret sells swimwear; swimwear collection page (portfolio) [10]

Shein sells swimwear; swimwear category page (portfolio) [11]

Decathlon sells swimwear; swimwear category page (portfolio) [12]

Swimwear brands compete heavily on UPF and quick-dry; one industry article states leading brands differentiate with UPF (market positioning claim) [13]

Major brands use sponsored endorsements; sponsorship spending is captured in a marketing dataset: e.g., adidas partnership spending reported in filings (marketing spend metric) [14]

Some brands report year-over-year revenue for swimwear lines; H&M annual report shows total net sales (retail indicator) [15]

Women’s swimwear segment accounted for 65% of market value in 2023 (segment share) [16]

Men’s swimwear segment accounted for 25% of market value in 2023 (segment share) [16]

Kids’ swimwear segment accounted for 10% of market value in 2023 (segment share) [16]

The swimwear market includes style categories; one report indicates two main categories are bikinis and one-pieces (style split referenced) [16]

Women’s bikinis are a leading product type in the market (product leadership claim) [16]

One-piece swimsuits are also a major segment in the market (product leadership claim) [16]

Performance/competitive swimwear is a distinct segment driven by swimming events (segment driver claim) [17]

Fashion swimwear is a segment driven by beachwear and fashion trends (segment driver claim) [17]

Leisure swimwear is a segment driven by vacations and leisure travel (segment driver claim) [17]

Swimming participation rates in the US: about 4% of adults reported swimming for exercise in a given year (survey figure) [18]

The survey indicates swimming is among the most common water sports for exercise in the US (context with percentage) [18]

In Australia, swimming is one of the most popular physical activities; one participation rate figure is 4.3 million participants (reported by Swimming Australia) [19]

Swimming Australia reports 5.8 million registered participants (registered count) [19]

Swimwear demand rises due to warm weather; Google Trends data typically shows peak search interest in summer months (seasonality) [20]

Example for US search interest: highest “swimwear” search interest occurs around June–August in Google Trends (index peak) [21]

In UK, swimwear search interest peaks around July (Google Trends) [22]

In France, swimwear search interest peaks around August (Google Trends) [23]

In Germany, swimwear search interest peaks around July (Google Trends) [24]

In Spain, swimwear search interest peaks around July (Google Trends) [25]

In Italy, swimwear search interest peaks around July (Google Trends) [26]

In the US, adults’ pool attendance or participation can support swimwear demand; one industry attendance metric is pool admission numbers (public pool use) [27]

Surveys show consumers increasingly buy swimwear online; an e-commerce share is stated in a report summary as 22% online in 2023 [28]

Offline channels in the same GlobalData report are 78% in 2023 [28]

In fashion, consumers often purchase multiple swimsuits per season; one survey indicates average 2.5 items per season (survey statistic) [29]

A consumer survey indicates 45% of respondents purchase swimwear for vacations (survey) [30]

A consumer survey indicates 30% purchase swimwear for pool visits (survey) [30]

A consumer survey indicates 25% purchase swimwear for sport/swimming (survey) [30]

Consumers cite fit/comfort as a top driver; one survey reports 55% prioritize fit when buying swimwear (survey statistic) [31]

Style/trend is prioritized by 40% of consumers (survey statistic) [31]

Price is prioritized by 35% of consumers (survey statistic) [31]

Global swimwear market size was estimated at USD 22.4 billion in 2023 [32]

The swimwear market is projected to reach USD 34.2 billion by 2032 [32]

Swimwear market forecast indicates a CAGR of 10.8% during 2024–2032 [32]

Swimwear market size was USD 20.4 billion in 2022 [32]

Swimwear market size was USD 22.4 billion in 2023 [32]

Global swimwear market is forecast to grow by USD 6.9 billion from 2023 to 2028 [33]

The swimwear market report projects growth at a CAGR of 7.6% from 2023 to 2028 [33]

The global swimwear market size in 2023 was USD 23.2 billion per the referenced report [33]

The global swimwear market size in 2028 is projected to be USD 30.1 billion per the referenced report [33]

The swimwear market is expected to experience a CAGR of 9.2% from 2024 to 2031 [34]

Swimwear market size was valued at USD 22.53 billion in 2023 [34]

Swimwear market size is projected to reach USD 46.12 billion by 2031 [34]

The swimwear market forecast states CAGR of 8.3% from 2024 to 2032 [35]

Swimwear market size reached USD 22.4 billion in 2023 per the cited press release [35]

Swimwear market size is expected to reach USD 34.2 billion by 2032 per the cited press release [35]

Swimwear accounted for 1.1% of global apparel market in 2022 (share stated in the report summary) [36]

Global apparel market was estimated at USD 1,973.2 billion in 2022 [37]

Swimwear market size in the U.S. was USD 2.8 billion in 2023 [38]

U.S. swimwear market is projected to reach USD 4.3 billion by 2032 [38]

The swimwear market in the UK was valued at GBP 0.9 billion in 2023 (stated in the same report summary) [38]

The swimwear market in Germany was valued at EUR 1.1 billion in 2023 (stated in the same report summary) [38]

The swimwear market in France was valued at EUR 1.0 billion in 2023 (stated in the same report summary) [38]

The swimwear market in Italy was valued at EUR 0.8 billion in 2023 (stated in the same report summary) [38]

The swimwear market in Canada was valued at USD 0.7 billion in 2023 (stated in the same report summary) [38]

In India, swimwear market was valued at USD 1.2 billion in 2023 (stated in the same report summary) [38]

In China, swimwear market was valued at USD 3.1 billion in 2023 (stated in the same report summary) [38]

In Japan, swimwear market was valued at USD 1.3 billion in 2023 (stated in the same report summary) [38]

Swimwear market size in Australia was AUD 1.6 billion in 2023 (stated in the same report summary) [38]

Swimwear market size in Brazil was USD 1.4 billion in 2023 (stated in the same report summary) [38]

The GlobalData report estimates swimwear market share by distribution: online at 22% in 2023 [28]

Polyester is widely used in swimwear fabric; one report states polyester accounted for 72% of swimwear fabric materials in 2022 (material mix) [39]

Nylon (polyamide) accounted for 18% of swimwear fabric materials in 2022 (material mix) [39]

Elastane/spandex accounted for 10% of swimwear fabric materials in 2022 (material mix) [39]

The ocean-based “recycled ocean-bound plastic” initiative (Oceanworks by The Swimsuits/industry reference) uses 100% recycled materials (product composition claim in a case study) [40]

Adidas reported that it used 100% recycled polyester in some swimwear lines (brand sustainability claim) [41]

In 2022, Patagonia reported that it used 100% recycled polyester in its swimwear line (company disclosure in product sustainability page) [42]

Aquafil’s ECONYL regenerated nylon is made from waste and other sources and is said to be “100% recyclable” (material technology claim) [43]

ECONYL production uses waste such as fishing nets and fabric scraps (technology description) [43]

Regenerated nylon can be recycled repeatedly (technology claim) [43]

Nike’s sustainability report states it is aiming to use only recycled polyester (target) and to reduce virgin polyester (brand reporting) [44]

Google’s “Sustainability” dataset indicates apparel microfiber shedding from synthetics; one referenced study estimates 500,000 microfibers per item per wash (study summary) [45]

A primary study cited in an EU report estimates that a single synthetic garment can shed thousands of microfibers during washing (reported range) [46]

The EEA report notes that microfibers from laundry are estimated to be one of the main sources of microplastics in the aquatic environment (source characterization) [46]

EU Ecolabel criteria include limits on the presence of hazardous substances in textiles (sustainability regulatory metric) [47]

The EU REACH regulation includes restrictions on certain chemicals used in textiles; listing of substance restrictions is provided (regulatory compliance) [48]

Oeko-Tex Standard 100 is a textile safety testing system with criteria for harmful substances; the standard includes “requirements” (certification metric stated as criteria) [49]

The report “Detox to Zero” lists that apparel brands aim to eliminate hazardous chemicals by 2020 (industry initiative target) [50]

The Global Fashion Agenda and McKinsey report states that by 2030 the industry can reduce carbon emissions by 30% with circularity actions (industry target) [51]

The Ellen MacArthur Foundation states that textiles represent 4% of global carbon emissions (industry macro-stat) [52]

The Ellen MacArthur Foundation reports that the fashion industry uses 79 billion cubic meters of water per year (macro-stat) [53]

The Ellen MacArthur Foundation reports that textiles lost to landfill or incinerated produce significant waste; one cited figure is 92 million tons disposed (macro-stat) [53]

The EU Commission (Circular Economy Action Plan) sets targets for textile waste reduction and recycling; one headline is 55% recycling target for textiles by 2030 (policy target) [54]

The EU Commission’s textile strategy includes a target that “separate collection” will be mandatory (policy metric) [55]

Lenzing reports modal/viscose as a cellulosic fiber with lower environmental impacts than conventional fibers (life-cycle statement) [56]

The microfiber filtration devices can reduce microfiber emissions by up to 80% per test results (filtration tech result) [57]

Spin-dyeing reduces water and energy usage vs conventional dyeing by up to 60% (tech claim) [58]

In digital printing (inkjet) for textiles, the technology reduces water usage by up to 90% in some cases (tech claim) [59]

Some swimwear brands use UPF technology; UPF 50+ blocks 98% of UV radiation (general sunscreen standard for UPF) [60]

UPF 30 blocks 96.7% of UV radiation (UPF rating definition) [60]

UPF 15 blocks 93.3% of UV radiation (UPF rating definition) [60]

Global swimwear market is segmented by product type including women, men, and kids (segmentation metric) [17]

Swimwear market segmented by distribution includes online and offline (distribution metric) [17]

Swimwear market segmented by channel includes hypermarkets and specialty stores (channel metric) [17]

Swimwear market segmented by channel includes department stores (channel metric) [17]

Swimwear market segmented by channel includes convenience stores (channel metric) [17]

Online distribution share in 2023 was 22% in one industry summary [28]

Offline distribution share in 2023 was 78% in the same summary [28]

U.S. e-commerce share of total retail sales in 2023 was 15.6% (proxy for online apparel channel) [61]

US e-commerce share in 2022 was 14.6% (proxy) [61]

In UK, e-commerce share of retail sales in 2023 was 27.0% (proxy) [62]

In Germany, online retail share in 2023 was 12.0% (proxy) [63]

Canada’s online retail sales as share of total retail sales in 2023 was 8.5% (proxy) [64]

In Australia, online retail sales as share of total retail in 2023 was 12.5% (proxy) [65]

In EU, e-commerce turnover as share of total retail turnover in 2023 was 9.5% (proxy) [66]

US Census: Retail sales for “clothing and clothing accessories stores” were $137.8B in 2023 (category related to apparel) [67]

US Census: E-commerce sales for “clothing and clothing accessories stores” were $43.2B in 2023 (category related to apparel) [67]