Vietnam Textile Industry Statistics

Vietnam's textile industry is sewing up a global niche: with about 44 billion USD in exports in 2022 it ranks third worldwide, driven by roughly 35 billion in garments and 5.6 billion in yarn and enjoying a near 20 billion trade surplus and a 5.2 percent global share, yet dependence on the United States for over 40 percent of sales, a roughly 19 percent slump in the first quarter of 2023 and weak exposure to non‑traditional markets mean Vietnam must aggressively leverage FTAs such as the CPTPP and EVFTA to hit targets of 47 billion in 2023 and 68 to 70 billion by 2030.

Vietnam's textile industry has quietly become the spinning mill of global supply-chain relocation, pulling in over 35 billion dollars of cumulative FDI led by South Korea's nearly 25 percent share and major Taiwanese, Chinese and Hong Kong investors, funneling about 60 percent of capital into apparel and roughly 60 percent of export value with marquee bets such as Hyosung's more than 3.5 billion, Far Eastern Polytex's billion dollar polyester plant in Binh Duong and Nam Dinh's newly approved 203 million dyeing project among more than 3,500 active FDI projects, even as a 2022 slowdown to around 1.5 billion and rising environmental scrutiny including dyeing restrictions in provinces like Da Nang force a recalibration of generous tax incentives and 100 percent foreign ownership rules while pushing investors toward higher quality technical, sustainable and recycled niches and yarn and fabric plays by Hong Kong and China aimed at bypassing US tariffs.

Vietnam's textile and garment industry is a female-powered engine employing about 2.5 to 3 million people, nearly 75 percent women, that anchors roughly 10 to 12 percent of industrial employment and pays average monthly wages of about 300 to 350 USD while keeping labor costs roughly 50 percent below China's, yet it masks deep strains—nearly 1 million workers were temporarily displaced during COVID, productivity lags at about 70 to 80 percent of the regional average, annual turnover of 20 to 30 percent and a workforce where around 60 percent have only basic training combine with a shortage of 50,000 to 100,000 high-tech skilled workers to create instability even as private firms employ over 80 percent of workers, social insurance coverage in the formal export sector reaches about 90 percent, union density tops 60 percent, remittances sustain rural provinces, compliance spending is only about 2 percent of costs, the gender pay gap in technical roles is roughly 18 percent, the average worker is about 30 years old with a legal working age of 15 and heavy lifting reserved for those 18 and older, Region I minimum wage hubs like Ho Chi Minh City see roughly 4.68 million VND, and Vietnam will need to train about 1.3 million new workers by 2030.

Vietnam’s textile industry is impressive in scale—churning out 2.8 billion garments a year across 13,000 firms with 10 million spindles and growing man-made fiber output—yet it remains threadbare and vulnerable, heavily dependent on imported cotton and fabrics, constrained by limited dyeing and supporting industries, dominated by low-value CMT models, hampered by long lead times and scarce automation, and at risk of unraveling before it meets its 2030 localization ambitions.

Vietnam's $4.5 billion fashion industry stands at a sartorial crossroads, and asking it to stitch a green and digital revolution with the same old needle and thread, given only 5% solar adoption, 12% big data use, under 1% 3D printing, less than 20% domestic sales and a roughly $20 billion green price tag, will require cheaper green loans, wider Higg and ZDHC uptake and serious recycling to hit a 30 percent emissions cut by 2030 and a coal-free sector by 2050, otherwise foreign brands will keep tailoring the mid-market while smart textiles and circular schemes remain niche.