Did European apparel sourcing return to “normality” in 2023?

European textiles and apparel imports recorded a sharp increase in 2022, both in value and volumes. The trend appears to have been reversed in fiscal 2023, according to figures presented by the French Fashion Institute (IFM) at the Première Vision Paris trade show, held on February 6-8.

Preliminary estimates for 2023 showed that the European Union (EU) imported €83.5 billion worth of apparel last year, equivalent to a 15.9% downturn in value and a 16% one in volume on an annual basis. “This can be interpreted as an adjustment, following a crazy 2022,” said Gildas Minvielle, head of the IFM’s Economic Observatory. He noted that, in 2022, imports had increased by 41% in value and 22% in volume over the previous year.

Such strong growth was attributed to the fact that markets were expecting a post-pandemic recovery, while inflation also contributed to boosting import values. “It was also likely that, in an inflationary context, buyers would tend to place bigger orders to obtain better prices from their suppliers,” said Minvielle. He notably indicated that, between 2019 and 2023, European apparel imports actually increased by 4.5% in value, but fell by 11.9% in volume.

Taking a longer-term perspective, the IFM study found that European apparel imports grew by an average of 5.4% per annum between 2002 and 2022. Over these two decades, China’s market share rose from 20% to 32%, reaching a peak of 39% between 2013 and 2015. “The domestic market, which was supposed to be the growth driver for the Chinese [apparel] sector, is struggling to thrive,” said Minvielle, especially because of high savings levels in the country. 

China the leading textiles exporter

Over the same period, the EU’s textiles imports grew by an average of 42% per year, with China’s share increasing from 13% in 2002 to 44% in 2022. A rise that confirms China’s importance for the European textiles sector when it comes to sourcing. China is the world’s leading exporter of textiles, with a 43.6% market share, far ahead of its biggest competitor, the EU, whose share is 7.4%.

In 2023 however, Europe’s textiles imports fell by 10.9% in volume and 19.5% in value, down to €31.6 billion. Over the same period, imports of Chinese textiles fell by 27.1%. All of Europe’s top 10 textiles suppliers recorded a drop in value, except for the fifth in the ranking, the UK, which recorded a downturn in 2022 but posted a 9.8% growth in 2023.

Tunisia resilient

A similar downward trend characterised the performance of most of the EU’s top 10 apparel suppliers. In 2023, China led the way with €23 billion worth of goods, but this was equivalent to a 21.3% slump, compared to a 19.9% one for Bangladesh, with €17.5 billion. Tunisia was the only exception to this negative trend. The North African country ranked 10th among the EU’s apparel suppliers, and confirmed the growth recorded in 2022 by posting a 4.5% increase in 2023, with €2.4 billion.

“Tunisia has enjoyed good momentum in recent years, with some of its clients coming back to place new orders,” said Minvielle. The country may also have partly benefited from decreased sourcing in Ukraine following Russia’s invasion.

Proximity sourcing in general is proving popular, as confirmed by the figures by production region. In 2023, EU apparel imports from Asia fell by 19.3% in value, while imports from Mediterranean basin countries were down by 17.8%, despite drops in imports from Turkey (down 13.4%) and Morocco (down 15.9%).

EU’s sourcing map unchanged

While rising prices have affected import volumes, the overall regional pattern has remained stable. Between 2019 and 2023, Asia’s share of European apparel imports rose from 70.9% to 72.6%. China and Hong Kong’s share fell by 1.6 points to 27.6%, while that of other Asian countries rose by 3.3 points to 45%. The market share of the Mediterranean basin region rose by one point to 18.4%.

The IFM’s chart depicting EU apparel sourcing by region since 2004 showed that, after the low of 2020 and the peak of 2022, the downturn recorded in 2023 can be read as a continuation of the trend of the last 20 years. If the pandemic had not occurred, and the growth of imports from Asia had kept the same pace for the last two decades, Asia would still have reached the same levels it did in 2023. “It is in this sense that we can speak of a return to normality,” concluded Minvielle.