Of the total €81 billion import of clothing from 28 countries to the European Union, 77 per cent is from Asia, which is almost double of what came out of Asia just 10 years ago. In the last 10 years, clothing import from the EU grew €32 billion with €30 billion coming from Asia alone. Out of that €30 billion, 75 per cent was from China and Bangladesh.
For some countries economy, this is a great bonanza with exports staying as the engine of growth: For instance, clothing represents 47 per cent of Bangladesh’s total export in 2015 and Cambodia (27 per cent) and Sri Lanka (17 per cent) also benefit from the clothing industry. In the last two years, prices have dropped nearly 4 per cent and the 2015 levels were lower on average than that 10 years ago. Prices are also at their lowest in the last 10 years.