Global Garment Trade Nears $550 Billion as Competition Intensifies

WASHINGTON, DC - The global garment industry has undergone a dramatic transformation over the past two decades, with knit and woven garments together accounting for nearly 60% of world textile exports in 2025, according to the August 2026 issue of The Textiles Observer, a free publication from the International Cotton Advisory Committee (ICAC).

World textile exports increased from approximately $560 billion in 2006 to $914 billion in 2025. Knit garment exports nearly doubled over the period, rising from $145.2 billion to $289.1 billion, while woven garment exports increased from $158.5 billion to $257.7 billion.

But the most significant change has not simply been the expansion of trade. It has been a fundamental redistribution of global competitiveness.

China remains the world's dominant textile and garment exporter, but Bangladesh and Vietnam have emerged as major global suppliers. Bangladesh rose from 14th place among textile exporters in 2006 to second in 2025, while Viet Nam climbed from 21st to third. Together with China, the three countries accounted for approximately 44% of world textile exports in 2025.

At the same time, demand has become increasingly geographically dispersed. The United States remains the world's largest textile importer, but its share of global imports fell from 18.9% in 2006 to 13.7% in 2025. A wider range of markets in Europe and Asia have gained importance, creating an increasingly multi-destination global textile market.

Cotton Remains a Major Force - but Fiber Competition Is Intensifying
The report finds that cotton continues to command some of the largest individual product markets in world apparel, including Cotton T-shirts, Cotton Jerseys, and Men's and Women's Cotton Trousers & Shorts.

However, competing fibers are growing more rapidly in many applications.
Cotton represented approximately 68.3% of global fiber demand in 1960, compared with 21.1% in 2025. Over the same period, synthetic fibers increased their share from 4.6% to 71.7%.

The shift is also visible within garment trade. Cotton-based knit garment exports increased from approximately US$69.9 billion in 2006 to US$128.3 billion in 2025, but their share declined from 48.3% to 44.5%. Man-made and synthetic knit garment exports grew more rapidly, increasing from US$35.6 billion to US$99.2 billion and raising their share from 24.6% to 34.4%.

The picture is even more pronounced in woven garments, where man-made and synthetic fibers overtook cotton in export value in 2021.

The findings do not indicate disappearing demand for cotton. Instead, they highlight a challenge of relative competitiveness: Cotton continues to participate in a growing global garment market, but competing fibers are capturing a larger share of that growth.

Cotton Quality Begins at the Farm
The August issue also features an article by Dr Marinus (René) van der Sluijs examining two significant cotton contamination challenges: stickiness and seed-coat fragments.
Stickiness can interfere with cotton processing, increase costs, reduce product quality, and damage the commercial reputation of cotton from affected origins. A global study cited in the report found that 64% of participants rated stickiness as a major cotton-fiber defect affecting yarn properties, while cotton from origins associated with stickiness can face discounts of up to 50%.

Seed-coat fragments present a separate challenge because fibers remain attached to the fragments, making them difficult to remove during processing. They can contribute to spinning end-breakages, increase production costs, and appear as dark specks in dyed fabrics.

The report examines methods for detecting and measuring these problems as well as practical measures to reduce their impact throughout production and processing.

A Global Industry in Transition
Taken together, the August Textiles Observer highlights an industry being reshaped simultaneously by changing centers of manufacturing, increasingly diverse consumer markets, stronger competition among fibers, and rising expectations for cotton quality and processing performance.

Cotton remains deeply embedded in the global garment economy. Its challenge is not simply maintaining demand, but strengthening its competitiveness and capturing a greater share of future growth.

The August 2026 issue of The Textiles Observer is available from the International Cotton Advisory Committee HERE.

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About the International Cotton Advisory Committee (ICAC)
Formed in 1939, the ICAC is an association of cotton producing, consuming, trading, and investing countries. It acts as a catalyst for change by helping Member governments maintain a healthy world cotton economy; provides transparency to the world cotton market by serving as a clearinghouse for technical information on cotton production; and serves as a forum for discussing cotton issues of international significance. In addition, Members can take advantage of the ICAC's global network of cotton researchers, whose expertise covers the supply chain from farm to textile manufacturing, and have free access to its cutting-edge technologies like the voice-based app and virtual reality cotton training program. Committed to ensuring cotton's continued sustainability, the ICAC is the only intergovernmental commodity body covering cotton that is recognized by the United Nations. For more information, please visit www.icac.org, Twitter or LinkedIn.