European textile and clothing imports accelerate

While remaining stable in 2024, at a slightly lower level than in 2019, European clothing and textile imports accelerated by 21% and 16% respectively in the first quarter, on the eve of the Sino-American trade war, according to data from the French Fashion Institute (IFM).

In the three months preceding the announcement of Donald Trump‘s tariffs, the EU imported 23.4 billion euros worth of clothing. And at a time when the European textile industry fears that Chinese production will be redirected from the U.S. to Europe, this first quarter already shows a 29% rise in Asian clothing imports.

This rise unsurprisingly concerns the EU’s leading supplier, China (29%), but also benefits its challenger Bangladesh (+33%), not forgetting India (+28%), Cambodia (+38%), Vietnam (+22%), Pakistan (+33%), Sri Lanka (+17%), Indonesia (+12%) and Thailand (+12%). Even Myanmar, still boycotted by some contractors since the coup d’état in 2021, is up by 9%.

As if to underline the regional nature of the phenomenon, the EU’s third-largest supplier of clothing, Turkey, fell back by 1%. And while Morocco grew by 9%, Tunisia contracted by 4%, while Egypt continued the upward trend of the previous year (+22%). The United Kingdom saw a 2% decline.

In the textile sector, Europe imported 8.7 billion euros worth of materials in three months, including 5.7 billion from Asia (+28%). Here again, all countries in the region benefited to varying degrees, particularly Bangladesh (+42%) and Vietnam (+44%), while Japan (+5%) and South Korea (+10%) also did well. The biggest loser in the Top 20 is the United Kingdom, down 13%, while Morocco is down 9%.

Sharp drop in exports to Asia

The surge in imports has not been accompanied by a reversal of the situation on the export side. After two years of contraction, shipments of clothing and textiles fell by a further 2% and 4% respectively in the first three months of the year, with sharp falls specifically in Asian orders.

Of the 9 billion euros worth of clothing exports, 2.2 billion went to Asia, which reduced its orders by 15%. This decline affected China (-15%), South Korea (-18%), Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore, while Japan remained stable. Other notable contractions include the UK (-4%), Canada (-9%), and Australia (-11%). The U.S., on the other hand, accelerated its orders by 6%, following the 2% rise already seen in 2024.

Textile exports followed this trend. Of the 6.4 billion euros worth of materials exported, 1.3 billion went to Asia, a drop of 14%. This decline was mainly driven by China (-19%), India (-13%), Vietnam (-21%), and South Korea (-22%). The United States, Europe’s biggest textile customer, increased its orders by 2% to 735 million euros, while Morocco (+9%) and Egypt (+27%) posted strong increases.