China's textile & garment exports drop 4.5% in Jan-Feb 2025

China began this year with weaker performance in the first two months. The country’s textile and apparel sector underperformed in contrast to the positive growth observed in other major exporting nations. Initially, the Chinese New Year affected its global trade in textiles and apparel. Other factors, including trade tensions with the US, also contributed to slower exports.

Exports of textile products, including yarn and fabric, saw a year-on-year (YoY) decrease of 2.0 per cent, reaching $21.220 billion, down from $21.652 billion in January-February 2024. Exports of garments and accessories amounted to $21.663 billion, marking a sharper decline of 6.9 per cent compared to $23.269 billion during the corresponding period in 2024.

The country did not release export data for January 2025, possibly due to negligible exports in the first month of the year. It also did not disclose export data for February 2025 separately.

On the import side, China experienced a 10.4 per cent decline in textile yarn and fabric imports, which fell to $1.415 billion in January-February 2025, down from $1.579 billion in the same period of 2024.

China's total textile, garment, and accessory exports for 2024 were recorded at $301.101 billion, including textile shipments worth $141.959 billion and garment exports of $159.142 billion. The country’s total exports of textiles and garments increased by 2.7 per cent compared to 2023. Meanwhile, imports of textile yarn and fabric declined by 7.8 per cent to $10.829 billion in 2024.

In 2023, China's total exports of textiles, garments, and accessories declined by 8.05 per cent to $293.641 billion, down from $319.376 billion in 2022. Garment exports decreased by 7.8 per cent to $159.144 billion, while textile exports fell by 8.3 per cent to $134.497 billion. Imports of textile yarn and fabric products also registered a 1.2 per cent decrease, dropping from $11.881 billion in 2022 to $11.742 billion in 2023.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (KUL)