Latest OTEXA statistics reveals the global textile and apparel trade is shifting with countries moving away from China to newer sourcing destinations like Vietnam, Bangladesh, India, etc.

Textile exports to the US decline 9 per cent

An analysis of the data from 2009 and 2019 reveals in 2019, China’s textile exports to the European Union, the United States and Vietnam accounted for more than 10 per cent, and 11 per cent, 10.4 per cent and 10.2 per cent respectively. Comparatively, textile exports to Bangladesh accounted for a smaller 5.4 per cent share, Japan accounted for 3.8 per cent, China Hong Kong accounted for 3.6 per cent, and Indonesia accounted for 3.5 per cent.

US textile imports from China shrink 9 per cent

In 2019, the value of China’s apparel exports to European Union, the United States and Japan declined by 4 per cent to 22.4 per cent, 21.6 per cent and 10 per cent respectively. The US imported textile and apparels worth $111.2 billion in 2019. Of this, the country imported apparels worth $ 83.8 billion and textiles worth $27.4 billion. Its textile imports increased by 53 per cent in 2019 compared to 2009.

China remained the largest sourcing destination for the US for its textile imports. The country accounted for 42 per cent share in 2019, followed by India with 14.6 per cent, and the European Union ranked third with 8.5 per cent. However, the volume of China’s textile exports to the United States declined by 9 per cent year-on-year in 2019.

Value of Chinese apparel imports declines 6.9 per cent

In apparel imports, the top five sourcing destinations for the US remained China, Vietnam, Bangladesh, Indonesia, and India. In 2019, the United States’ apparel imports from these countries accounted for 29.7 per cent, 16.2 per cent, 7.1 per cent, 5.3 per cent and 4.9 per cent, respectively. Among them, import value of apparels from China decreased by 6.9 per cent in 2019 compared to 36.6 per cent in 2009.

In the past 10 years, Vietnam has been emerging as a major garment producer and exporter. In 2019, the proportion of US apparel imports from Vietnam increased by 1.43 per cent year-on-year.

Value of apparel imports by EU increases, volume declines

In 2019, EU’s textile imports increased by 86 per cent to €28.1 billion from 2009, while its apparel imports increased by 53 per cent to €88 billion compared to 2009. The top six sourcing destinations for EU in 2019 were China, Bangladesh, Turkey, India, Cambodia and Vietnam.

In 2019, the value of EU’s apparel imports from China remained unchanged at $25-30 billion. However, the volume of its imports from China decreased by 14 per cent compared to 2009; due to the rapid growth of the EU’s apparel imports from Bangladesh.

Decline in Japan’s share of textile and apparel imports

In 2019, though Japan’s textile imports from China increased 31 per cent year-on-year compared to 2009 however, its share of China’s textile imports declined by almost 10 per cent. On the other hand, Vietnam’s share increased from 2.7 per cent in 2009 to 9.3 per cent in 2019.

In the past 10 years, the value of Japan’s apparel imports from China declined by 8 per cent while its volume declined by 27 per cent. In contrast, the value of Japan’s apparel imports from Vietnam, increased by 401 per cent in 2019 while its volume increased by 11 per cent.