Uk Fashion Industry Statistics

Average annual UK clothing purchases per consumer were 62 items in 2020 (estimate) [1]

UK consumers reported buying new clothes less in 2023 than 2019 by 12% (survey) [2]

In a UK survey, 55% of consumers said they are concerned about environmental impact of clothing [3]

48% of UK consumers said they would pay more for sustainable clothing (survey) [3]

UK consumers in 2023 said they are more likely to repair than replace (survey) [4]

Age distribution of UK online clothing buyers: 16-24 were 28% of online clothing purchasers (survey) [5]

Age distribution of UK online clothing buyers: 25-34 were 24% (survey) [5]

UK shoppers are most likely to buy clothing online via mobile devices (share 39% in 2023) [5]

% of UK adults who purchased clothing online in the last 3 months was 32% in 2023 (survey/ONS) [5]

Online shoppers returning behavior: 24% of online clothing orders are returned (industry estimate) [6]

UK consumers value range/price: 67% said price is a key factor when buying clothes (survey) [7]

35% of UK consumers said they shop for “occasionwear” (survey) [7]

41% of UK consumers said they buy second-hand clothing sometimes (survey) [8]

16% of UK consumers said they buy second-hand clothing frequently (survey) [8]

UK consumers reporting use of clothes longer (at least 1 year longer) was 29% in 2022 (survey) [9]

UK fast-fashion brand preference: 22% of UK consumers buy from fast-fashion retailers regularly (survey) [10]

UK consumers willing to buy from brands with good labor practices: 54% (survey) [11]

UK consumers’ priority order: 45% chose “quality and durability” over lowest price (survey) [12]

UK consumer confidence in clothing spending was -2 in Q4 2023 (survey index) [13]

% of UK consumers who bought clothing via promotions/discounts was 73% in 2023 (survey) [14]

In 2023, “Dunnes Stores” had the highest share of women’s clothing shoppers in Ireland not UK (irrelevant) [15]

UK fashion accounts for about 2% of global emissions (estimates) [16]

UK textile waste generated was 1.3 million tonnes in 2018 (WRAP estimate) [17]

In England, only 35% of textiles are recycled or reused (WRAP/Defra figures) [18]

UK has a target to recycle 50% of textile waste by 2030 (England textiles strategy) [18]

UK ban on destruction of unsold good (applicable) begins 2024 for large retailers (strategy/consultation) [19]

The UK’s “Textiles Strategy for England” includes a target that “at least 75% of textiles to be reused, recycled or recovered” by 2030 [18]

UK landfill of textiles was 1.6 million tonnes in 2019 (WRAP estimate) [20]

Greenhouse gas emissions from UK clothing consumption were estimated at 37.0 million tonnes CO2e in 2018 (estimate) [21]

“Fast fashion” contributes to an average of 11 kg of textiles purchased per person annually in the UK (estimate) [22]

In 2019, UK household clothing waste was 720,000 tonnes (WRAP) [23]

UK textile waste recycling rate was 27% in 2019 (WRAP/sector) [24]

UK textile recycling rate increased from 20% in 2015 to 27% in 2019 (WRAP trend) [24]

UK textile reuse rate was 6% in 2019 (WRAP) [24]

UK clothing donations were 300,000 tonnes in 2019 (WRAP) [24]

UK extended producer responsibility for textiles includes a target to reduce environmental impact by 30% by 2030 (policy estimate) [25]

UK textiles strategy aims to increase recycled fibre content in products to 20% by 2030 (policy ambition) [18]

Percentage of textile waste treated by energy recovery in 2019 was 35% (WRAP) [24]

Percentage of textile waste landfilled in 2019 was 25% (WRAP) [24]

UK landfill tax is £101.60 per tonne (standard rate) in 2024/25 (HMRC) [26]

UK landfill tax reduced to encourage recycling; rate 2023/24 was £98.60 per tonne (HMRC) [26]

The UK produced 2.7 million tonnes of textile waste in 2019 (WRAP broader estimate) [23]

UK Government’s 2018 textiles strategy noted that consumers buy 2.2 million tonnes of clothes each year (global study; UK) [18]

UK household clothing purchases were estimated at 26kg per person per year (WRAP/estimate) [20]

UK textile waste per person was 25kg per year in 2017 (estimate) [23]

UK recycling of textiles in household waste was 16% in 2018 (estimate) [17]

UK collection rate for textiles from households was 25% in 2020 (estimate) [27]

UK textile reuse for clothing was 10% in 2018 (estimate) [28]

UK textile waste from households to landfill was 1.4 million tonnes in 2018 (estimate) [17]

UK “Textile waste” total was 1.7 million tonnes in 2017 (estimate) [23]

UK “unsold clothing” waste was 50,000 tonnes in 2020 (estimate) [29]

UK consumers dispose of around 1 million tonnes of textiles each year (estimate) [18]

UK has 4.6 million metric tons of CO2 emissions associated with textiles consumption (estimate) [16]

UK textile, clothing and footwear industry turnover was £20.0 billion in 2022 (latest available in that series) [30]

Number of VAT/PAYE businesses in the UK “Textiles, clothing and leather products” industry (SIC 13-15) was 14,700 in 2023 [31]

Number of businesses in the UK “Textiles, clothing and leather products” industry (SIC 13-15) increased by 0.9% between 2019 and 2023 [31]

UK “Manufacture of wearing apparel” (SIC 14) employment was 34,000 in 2023 [32]

UK “Manufacture of textiles” (SIC 13) employment was 55,000 in 2023 [33]

UK turnover in “Retail sale of clothing and footwear” was £97.1 billion in 2022 [34]

UK turnover in “Retail sale of clothing” was £69.0 billion in 2022 [34]

UK turnover in “Retail sale of footwear” was £28.1 billion in 2022 [34]

Clothing and footwear retail employment (FTE) in the UK was 547,000 in 2023 [35]

The UK fashion industry employs 887,000 people [36]

The UK fashion sector’s annual output value was estimated at £57.6 billion [37]

Number of fashion retail stores in the UK decreased to 26,000 in 2023 (estimate) [38]

Clothing and footwear retailers’ average margin was 10.2% in 2023 (estimate) [39]

UK department store revenue decline: 2023 revenue for fashion-focused department stores fell 3.4% (estimate) [40]

In 2023, the UK’s “Retail sale of clothing and footwear” SIC 477 had annual average employment 555,000 (ONS/Business Register and Employment Survey) [41]

The UK has 3,500 textile reprocessing businesses (estimate) [42]

UK apparel market size was estimated at £60.9 billion in 2023 [43]

UK fashion and apparel market is projected to reach £73.6 billion by 2028 [43]

UK clothing and footwear retail sales growth (rolling 12 months) was reported as 4.7% in May 2024 [44]

UK retail sales index for “Clothing” in May 2024 (index level, 2015=100) was 103.1 [44]

UK retail sales index for “Footwear” in May 2024 (index level, 2015=100) was 98.3 [44]

UK non-food consumer spending on clothing and footwear (2023) was £51.0 billion [45]

In 2023, UK consumers spent £27.2 billion on clothing in-store and £13.5 billion online (combined total £40.7 billion) [46]

UK e-commerce share of total clothing sales was 26.0% in 2023 [47]

UK clothing and footwear online sales reached £11.6 billion in 2023 [47]

The UK textiles market has a 5% annual growth rate (estimate) [48]

UK clothing value chain is forecast to grow to £100bn by 2030 (estimate) [48]

UK “net retail sales” for clothing were £46.6 billion in 2023 (estimate) [44]

UK clothing volume purchased by households was 25.8 kg per person per year (estimate) [49]

The UK fashion market is primarily dominated by e-commerce: online sales share 26% (ONS/ONS Retail) [47]

UK “Textiles, clothing and footwear” sector is projected to grow to £65bn by 2025 (forecast) [50]

UK clothing and footwear growth in value over 2022-2023 was 6.1% (ONS) [51]

In 2022, UK fashion retail sales were £62.4bn (estimate) [52]

UK clothing and footwear imports were £31.7 billion in 2023 [53]

UK clothing and footwear exports were £2.6 billion in 2023 [54]

UK fashion and textile exports were worth £3.3 billion in 2023 [55]

UK textile and apparel imports were worth £26.4 billion in 2023 [56]

UK imports of “cotton, apparel fabrics” were $7.4B in 2023 [57]

Bangladesh was the largest source of UK clothing imports by country in 2023 with 13.6% share [58]

China was the second-largest source of UK clothing imports with 10.2% share in 2023 [58]

India’s share of UK clothing imports was 4.8% in 2023 [58]

Turkey’s share of UK clothing imports was 2.7% in 2023 [58]

Vietnam’s share of UK clothing imports was 3.4% in 2023 [58]

UK “textile exports” of waste textiles were 138,000 tonnes in 2021 (Environment Agency) [59]

UK imported “waste textiles” for recycling were 92,000 tonnes in 2021 (Environment Agency) [59]

UK imports of used clothing were 370,000 tonnes in 2022 (HMRC/Eurostat compiled) [60]

UK clothing and footwear import value from “Non-EU” was £28.9bn in 2023 (HMRC/ONS trade) [61]

UK clothing and footwear import value from “EU” was £12.2bn in 2023 (HMRC/ONS trade) [61]

UK clothing and footwear import value from Asia was £22.4bn in 2023 (ONS) [61]

Share of overseas production of UK clothing in 2022 was 95% (industry) [48]

UK textile manufacturing output declined by 2% between 2019 and 2022 (industry estimate) [62]

UK’s clothing and footwear trade deficit was about £29.1bn in 2023 (computed from import/export series) [53]