Global Garment Trade Nears US$ 550 Billion As China, Bangladesh, Vietnam Reshape Competition
Global garment trade has expanded sharply over the past two decades, with knit and woven garments together accounting for nearly 60% of world textile exports in 2025. But the growth has also brought a major shift in the competitive landscape, with China retaining its dominance while Bangladesh and Vietnam have emerged as major global suppliers.
According to the August 2026 issue of The Textiles Observer, a publication of the International Cotton Advisory Committee (ICAC), global textile exports increased from about US$ 560 billion in 2006 to US$ 914 billion in 2025.
Knit garment exports almost doubled during the period, rising from US$ 145.2 billion to US$ 289.1 billion, while woven garment exports increased from US$ 158.5 billion to US$ 257.7 billion.
The expansion has been accompanied by a significant redistribution of manufacturing and export competitiveness. Bangladesh moved from 14th place among textile exporters in 2006 to second in 2025, while Vietnam climbed from 21st to third.
China, Bangladesh and Vietnam together accounted for about 44% of global textile exports in 2025, underlining the growing concentration of garment manufacturing in major Asian production hubs.
The global demand base, meanwhile, has become more diversified. The US remains the world’s largest textile importer, but its share of global imports declined from 18.9% in 2006 to 13.7% in 2025. European and Asian markets have gained greater importance, creating a more geographically dispersed sourcing and consumption landscape.
Cotton faces growing fibre competition
Cotton continues to command significant markets in global apparel, particularly in products such as cotton T-shirts, jerseys and men’s and women’s trousers and shorts. However, the fibre is facing increasingly strong competition from man-made and synthetic fibres.
Cotton’s share of global fibre demand has fallen dramatically, from 68.3% in 1960 to 21.1% in 2025. In contrast, synthetic fibres increased their share from 4.6% to 71.7% during the same period.
The trend is also evident in international garment trade. Cotton-based knit garment exports increased from US$ 69.9 billion in 2006 to US$ 128.3 billion in 2025. Despite the increase in value, their share of knit garment exports declined from 48.3% to 44.5%.
Man-made and synthetic knit garment exports, on the other hand, rose from US$ 35.6 billion to US$ 99.2 billion, increasing their share from 24.6% to 34.4%.
The shift has been even more pronounced in woven garments, where man-made and synthetic fibres overtook cotton in export value in 2021.
The data point to a changing competitive environment rather than a collapse in cotton demand. Cotton remains an important part of the global apparel market, but synthetic fibres are capturing a larger proportion of the industry’s growth.
Cotton quality remains critical
The report also highlights challenges that begin well before cotton reaches the spinning mill. An article by cotton expert Dr Marinus (René) van der Sluijs examines contamination issues involving stickiness and seed-coat fragments.
Cotton stickiness can disrupt processing, raise production costs and affect yarn and fabric quality. It can also damage the commercial reputation of cotton from affected origins. A global study cited by the report found that 64% of participants considered stickiness a major cotton-fibre defect affecting yarn properties. Cotton from origins associated with the problem can reportedly face discounts of up to 50%.
Seed-coat fragments pose another challenge. Fibres attached to the fragments can be difficult to remove during processing, potentially increasing spinning end-breakages and production costs. They may also appear as dark specks in dyed fabrics, affecting finished-product quality.
The report examines methods for identifying and measuring these defects, as well as measures that can be adopted across the cotton production and processing chain to minimise their impact.
Global textile industry enters a new competitive phase
The latest figures underline the scale of the transformation taking place across the global textile and apparel industry. Manufacturing centres are shifting, consumer markets are becoming more diverse and competition between natural and synthetic fibres is intensifying.
For cotton-producing and textile-manufacturing countries, the challenge is increasingly about competitiveness rather than simply maintaining demand. Improving fibre quality, reducing contamination, enhancing processing efficiency and developing higher-value cotton-based products will be critical to securing a larger share of future garment trade.
With global textile exports approaching US$ 1 trillion and garment trade continuing to expand, the next phase of competition is likely to be determined not only by production costs, but also by fibre performance, quality, supply-chain efficiency and the ability of manufacturers to respond to changing sourcing requirements.
