Tag: value chain

Patterns of Global Textile and Apparel Trade Measured by Origin of Value Added (updated October 2025)

Textiles and apparel today are produced through a global supply chain. For clothing labeled as “Made in Vietnam,” it is likely that the textile raw materials, such as yarns, fabrics, and trims, are sourced from elsewhere.

According to the newly released 2025 OECD trade in value added estimation, as of 2022, a country’s apparel exports commonly contain value added created in another country due to the use of imported textile materials and other inputs. This is the case for exports from leading apparel exporting countries in Asia, such as Vietnam (44% foreign value added), ASEAN members (35% foreign value added), Cambodia (45% foreign value added), India (21% foreign value added), and Jordan (42% foreign value added). Other emerging apparel sourcing destinations in North, South, and Central America, as well as the EU, also used substantial imported inputs for their apparel exports, such as Mexico (27.3% foreign value added), Türkiye (23.9% foreign value added), and Egypt (19.7% foreign value added). [See detailed data here]

Notably, among the sixteen countries and regions examined, they mostly increased the use of non-domestic value added in textile and apparel exports between 2015 and 2022 (note: paired T-test result was statistically significant at the 99% confidence level). This suggests that co-production through regional or global supply chains, rather than 100% domestic production, has become a more prominent phenomenon in the textiles and apparel industry. [See detailed data here]

Furthermore, the value added from China appears to be increasing in the textile and apparel exports of many countries. Specifically, between 2015 and 2022, textile and apparel exports from several countries contained a higher percentage of value added from China, including not only Asian countries such as Vietnam (up 6 percentage points), ASEAN (up 4.1 percentage points) and Jordan (up 6.1 percentage points), but also those in other regions such as Egypt (up 3.3 percentage points), Mexico (up 1.7 percentage points), and South & Central America as a whole (up 4.7 percentage points). [See detailed data here] This result reflected China’s deliberate effort to expand its global economic presence through foreign direct investment, Belt and Road initiatives, and new trade agreements in recent years. 

The latest data from the World Trade Organization (WTO) also shows that while China’s market share in the world clothing exports fell to 29.6% in 2024—the lowest level since 2010—China’s market share in textile exports increased to 43.3% in 2024, up from 41.5% a year earlier. In other words, consistent with the stage of development theory, China’s role as a major textile supplier to other apparel-exporting countries continues to grow, despite a decline in its finished garment exports. [See detailed data here]

In comparison, while the United States remained an important contributor to the value added of textile and apparel exports from Mexico and Canada, its contribution slightly declined between 2015 and 2022 (i.e., from about 12%-14% to 11%). As the USMCA undergoes its mandated six-year review, it is critical to strengthen, rather than weaken, this North American co-production supply chain, which has a significant impact on the economic interests of the U.S. textile and apparel industry. This is particularly important given that supply chain collaboration between the U.S. and Asian or EU countries for textile and apparel production has been limited, with little indication of growth: According to OECD data, the U.S. value added in Asian and EU countries’ textile and apparel exports remained only around 1.5% [See detailed data here].

by Sheng Lu

(This post is not open for discussion due to its technical nature)

Global Value Chain for Apparel Sold at Target

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A global view in mind means more career opportunities: except material production and cut and sew, other well-paid jobs in the apparel value chain stay in the United States.

Source: Moongate Association (2017). Analyzing the Value Chain for Apparel Designed in the United States and Manufactured Overseas

Global Trade of Used Clothing (Updated: October 2015)

Please also check the updated study: Why is the used clothing trade such a hot-button issue?

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United States

  • Generates 1.4 million tons of used clothing annually
  • Exports 800,000 tons of used clothing annually
  • 20% of used clothing sold domestically in thrift stores
  • Non-wearable material of used clothing is reprocessed into fibers for upholstery, insulation, soundproofing, carpet padding, building and other materials.

 Central and South America

  • Very large used clothing market in most countries
  • Imports of used clothing mostly come from the United States
  • Cotton wipers made from used clothing are exported back to the United States

Europe

  • Generates 1.5-2 million tons of used clothing annually
  • Large used clothing sorting centers located in Western and Eastern Europe
  • 10-12% used clothing (only those top quality) sold in local secondhand shops

Africa

  • One of the largest used clothing markets in the world
  • 80% of population wear secondhand clothes
  • Most used clothing imported from the United States, Europe, India and Pakistan

East Asia

  • Most used clothing is collected in Japan, South Korea and Taiwan
  • Countries in the region also import used clothing from the United States, Europe, India and Pakistan
  • Some large used clothing sorting centers are located in Malaysia and Philippines.

India and Pakistan

  • Residual used clothing are imported and sorted by grading companies
  • Wearable used clothing is extracted from “mixed rags” and sold locally or shipped to Africa
  • Recycled yarns are used to make new sweaters
  • Cotton wipers made from used clothing are exported to the United States

Australia

  • Used clothing is collected and sold through local shops and exported

Source: Planet Aid (http://www.planetaid.org); UNComtrade (2015)

Digital Economy and the Fashion Industry: A Macroview

Part I

Part II

Part III

International Trade and Global Supply Chain

Questions to think about:

Why supply chain matters in the 21st century global economy?

What benefits a global supply chain can bring to us?

 What unique risks are involved in a global supply chain?

What role the government and policies can play in facilitating the global supply chain?

Are you prepared to embrace the concept of “made in the world”?

Global Apparel Value Chain Trade and Crisis

Gereffi, G. & Frederick, S. (2010). The Global Apparel Value Chain, Trade and the Crisis: Challenges and Opportunities for Developing Countries. The World Bank.: Washington DC

One recent work of Dr. Gary Gereffi, a well-known expert on value chain studies, on the impacts of the financial crisis on the global apparel industry. It is suggested that the developing countries will gradually move up in the value chain and undertake more value-added functions such as design and product development. This is a two-edge sword to T&A industries in the developed countries. It could mean more resources to take advantage of and more intensified compeitition at the same time. Although Dr. Gary uses the concepts of OEM, ODM and OBM to describe evolution of the apparel chain, the major conlusions are compatable with the famous stages of development theory suggested by Toney (1986).

To read the fulltext, click here