After witnessing a decent start in January ’22, Japan’s apparel imports declined by 0.91 per cent to 2.88 billion kg in volume during H1’22. However, their value increased by 13.89 per cent Y-o-Y to $9.86 billion.

As per an Apparel Resources report, Japanese buyers continue to buy cautiously even in 2022 – a trend that has continued in the country since 2019.

The volume of apparels exports by China, India and Vietnam to Japan declined, while exports by Bangladesh and Sri Lanka increased in values and weight.

The value of apparel exports by China increased by 11.80 per cent Y-o-Y to $5.46 billion, which is nearly 55.37 per cent of the shipment value of Japan. The share of China was 59 per cent in the import values during January ’22.

The second top importing destination was Vietnam that grew by 11 per cent in its shipment on Y-o-Y basis to $1.47 billion.

Imports from Bangladesh increased by 31.30 per cent in value to $578.68 million in H1 ’22, while by volume they increased by 8.53 per cent. India contributed $135.21 million in Japanese apparel imports during H1 ’21.