Trends in world textile and clothing trade

摘要

World textile and clothing trade rose by 8.4% to a record high of US$766 bn in 2013. The rise represented a return to growth following a 0.7% decline in the previous year. The rise was due to a 7.7% increase in textile trade and an 8.9% increase in clothing trade. Geographically, the rise in textile and clothing trade was reflected in growth in almost all the major trade flows. In textiles, the fastest growth was in intra-Asian trade (up by 11.8%) and in exports from Asia to Europe (up by 10.4%). In clothing, the fastest growth was in exports from Asia to the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) (up by 31.2%), exports from Asia to the Middle East (up by 16.5%) and intra-Asian trade (up by 12.5%). There were also rises in the three largest trade flows-intra-European trade, exports from Asia to Europe and exports from Asia to North America-and the rises were at high single digit rates. But there was a decline in exports from South and Central America to North America (down by 1.3%). The USA continued to have a deficit in its textile and clothing trade, and, at US$98.30 bn, the deficit reached a record high. The EU also continued to have a deficit in its textile and clothing trade, and this was up by 4.3% to US$70.55 bn. However, the rise followed a 17.9% drop in the previous year and, as a result, the EU's deficit in 2013 remained lower than it had been in 2010 and 2011. Japan's deficit, on the other hand, rose for the 11th consecutive year, to US$35.07 bn. Offsetting these deficits, China was the country with the world's biggest textile and clothing trade surplus, followed by India, Bangladesh and Turkey. The world's biggest textile exporter was China with a 35%) share of world textile exports, followed by the EU, India, the USA, Turkey, South Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Pakistan and Japan. The biggest textile importer was the EU with a 24% share of world textile imports, followed by the USA with an 8% share, but China ranked as high as third with a share of 7%. Next in importance was Vietnam, followed by Hong Kong, Japan, Turkey, Bangladesh, Mexico and Indonesia. The world's biggest clothing exporter was China with a 39% share of world clothing exports, followed by the EU, Bangladesh, Hong Kong, Vietnam, India, Turkey, Indonesia, the USA and Cambodia. The world's biggest clothing importer was the EU with a 38% share of world clothing imports while the USA took 19% and Japan 7%. Next in importance was Hong Kong, followed by Canada, Russia, South Korea, Australia, Switzerland and China. But each of these had only a small share of world clothing imports.