Industry Data: China'S Apparel Industry Economic Operation Briefing From January To December 2024

In 2024, facing a complex and severe development environment, China's clothing industry will fully stimulate its development potential. Supported by positive factors such as the continuous release of the effect of the national series of stock increment policies, and the gradual recovery of domestic and foreign market demand, the domestic market will be under stable pressure, export pressure and resilience coexist, and the main operating indicators such as industry production, investment and efficiency will be significantly improved, The industry economy is running smoothly on the whole. Looking forward to 2025, China's clothing industry will gradually consolidate its stable and positive basic plate. The industry needs to adhere to the new industrial orientation of "technology, fashion, green and health", continue to optimize the industrial structure, accelerate the cultivation of new quality productivity, and solidly promote the construction of a modern industrial system and high-quality development of the industry.

　　 Economic operation of clothing industry in 2024

　　 01 Clothing production rebounded steadily

In 2024, driven by factors such as the recovery of domestic and foreign market demand and the adjustment of product structure, China's clothing production will recover steadily. According to the data of the National Bureau of Statistics, from January to December 2024, the industrial added value of enterprises above designated size in the clothing industry increased by 0.8% year-on-year, 0.4 percentage points faster than the first three quarters, and 8.4 percentage points higher than the same period in 2023; Enterprises above designated size completed 20.462 billion pieces of clothing production, a year-on-year increase of 4.22%, 0.19 percentage points slower than the first three quarters, and 12.91 percentage points higher than the same period in 2023. From the perspective of the output of the main categories of clothing, while the output of woven clothing declined, the output of knitted clothing maintained a rapid growth, and its proportion in the total output of clothing continued to rise. From January to December, the output of knitted clothing was 13.986 billion pieces, a year-on-year increase of 7.38%, accounting for 68.35% of the total clothing output, and the proportion was 2.17 percentage points higher than that of the same period in 2023. The output of woven clothing was 6.476 billion, down 1.99% year on year, 13.02 percentage points lower than that of the same period in 2023. Among them, the production of down clothing increased 17.80% year on year, while the production of suits and shirts decreased 2.92% and 5.83% year on year respectively.

Figure 1 Production growth of clothing industry from January to December 2024

Data source: National Bureau of Statistics

　　 02 The domestic market is stable and under pressure

In 2024, supported by such factors as the gradual effectiveness of the national consumption promotion policy and the stimulation of market vitality by new consumption, new formats and new models, the domestic clothing market will keep growing. However, due to the lack of consumer willingness, intensified market competition and other factors, the endogenous power of terminal consumption is insufficient, and the domestic sales growth will slow down. According to the data of the National Bureau of Statistics, from January to December 2024, the retail sales of clothing commodities above the designated size in China totaled 1071.62 billion yuan, an increase of 0.1% year on year, and the growth rate was 15.3 percentage points slower than that of the same period in 2023; The online retail sales of clothing products increased by 1.5% year on year, 9.3 percentage points slower than the same period in 2023.

Figure 2 Clothing sales in the domestic market from January to December 2024

Data source: National Bureau of Statistics

　　 03 Coexistence of outlet pressure and toughness

In 2024, China's clothing exports will remain resilient and the competitiveness of the industrial chain will continue to release under the impact of the intertwined risks and challenges such as weak recovery momentum of international market demand, intensified geopolitical conflicts, the prevalence of trade protectionism and exchange rate fluctuations. According to Chinese customs data, from January to December 2024, China's clothing and clothing accessories exports totaled US $159.14 billion, up 0.3% year on year, 8.1 percentage points higher than the same period in 2023. From the perspective of volume price relationship, the export volume of clothing rose and fell, with the export volume of 34.19 billion pieces, up 12.9% year on year; The average export unit price was 3.8 US dollars/piece, down 11.2% year on year. Among them, the export amount of knitted garments was 71.23 billion US dollars, up 3.8% year on year, the export volume increased 12.5% year on year, and the export unit price decreased 7.7% year on year; The export value of woven clothing was US $59.89 billion, down 3.90% year on year, the export volume increased 13.6% year on year, and the export unit price decreased 15.4% year on year.

Figure 3 Export of China's clothing and clothing accessories from January to December 2024

Data source: China Customs

From the perspective of export categories, most of the categories showed a trend of rising in volume and falling in price. Only the export volume of down jacket fell in price, with the export volume declining 35.7% year on year, and the export unit price increasing 13.5% year on year. Although the export unit prices of casual suits, skirts, culottes and T-shirts decreased by different degrees, the export amount still maintained a rapid growth driven by the substantial growth of export volume, with growth rates of 16.4%, 11.4% and 21.2% respectively. Over the same period, on the basis of last year's low base, China's cotton clothing exports to the United States and the European Union turned to positive growth. According to Chinese customs data, from January to December 2024, China's export of cotton clothing reached US $50.43 billion, up 0.3% year on year; Among them, China's export of cotton clothing to the United States was 9.65 billion US dollars, up 15.1% year on year; Exports of cotton garments to the EU reached US $7.07 billion, up 6.0% year on year.

From the perspective of major markets, the diversification trend of clothing export market is obvious. Benefiting from the better than expected economic growth of developed countries in Europe and the United States, the overall improvement of residents' consumption and the recovery of international market demand, China's clothing exports to the traditional market showed resilience, clothing exports to the United States, the European Union and the United Kingdom grew, and clothing exports to Japan declined slightly. According to Chinese customs data, from January to December 2024, China's clothing exports to the United States amounted to US $36.19 billion, up 8.7% year on year, an increase of 20.7 percentage points over the same period in 2023; China's clothing exports to the EU reached US $27.75 billion, up 4.7% year on year, 30.2 percentage points higher than the same period in 2023; China's clothing exports to the UK amounted to 5.22 billion US dollars, up 7.4% year on year, 23.3 percentage points higher than the same period in 2023; China's clothing exports to Japan amounted to US $11.61 billion, down 7.8% year on year, 5.7 percentage points lower than the same period in 2023. In the same period, due to the limited market space and the high base factor of last year, China's exports to ASEAN, countries and regions along the Belt and Road turned to negative growth, but its exports to Kazakhstan and Latin America were more impressive. According to Chinese customs data, from January to December 2024, China's clothing exports to ASEAN reached US $15.33 billion, down 1.1% year on year, 3.2 percentage points lower than the same period in 2023; Clothing exports to countries and regions along the Belt and Road totaled US $44.61 billion, down 3.3% year on year, and the growth rate dropped 4.9 percentage points compared with the same period in 2023. In addition, China's clothing exports to Kazakhstan increased by 6.4% year on year and to Latin America by 9.9% year on year.

From the perspective of export provinces, the eastern region is still the main concentration of China's clothing exports, while the export performance of provinces in the central and western regions varies greatly, and only Xinjiang and Guangxi's clothing exports keep growing. According to Chinese customs data, from January to December 2024, clothing exports in the eastern region reached US $126.93 billion, up 2.3% year on year, accounting for 79.8% of the total clothing exports in China. Among the top five garment export provinces, Zhejiang, Jiangsu and Shandong saw year-on-year growth of 7.5%, 4.4% and 2.1% respectively; Guangdong and Fujian clothing exports fell 4.3% and 1.4% respectively year on year. Over the same period, clothing exports from central and western China reached 32.21 billion US dollars, down 6.5% year on year. Among them, the clothing exports of Xinjiang and Guangxi increased by 2.4% and 5.2% respectively year on year, and the growth slowed by 20.6 and 7.4 percentage points respectively compared with the same period in 2023; The clothing exports of Hunan, Jiangxi, Sichuan and Hubei decreased by 47.0%, 17.9%, 16.1% and 7.8% year on year respectively.

　　 04 Investment maintained rapid growth

In 2024, the investment confidence of garment enterprises will gradually recover, the industry's fixed asset investment will maintain a rapid growth, the industrial innovation trend will continue to strengthen, and the transformation and upgrading will continue to deepen. According to the data of the National Bureau of Statistics, from January to December 2024, the completed investment in fixed assets of China's clothing industry increased by 18.0% year on year, 20.2 percentage points higher than the same period in 2023, 2.4 and 8.8 percentage points higher than the overall level of the textile and manufacturing industries. Enterprise investment involves intelligent production, business model innovation, brand building, channel layout and other fields to improve the efficiency of supply chain management, optimize production processes, improve product quality and reduce operating costs.

Figure 4 Growth of Fixed Assets Investment in Clothing Industry from January to December 2024

Data source: National Bureau of Statistics

　　 05 Operation quality, efficiency and mild repair

In 2024, China's clothing industry will strive to overcome difficulties and challenges such as insufficient consumption demand and intensified internal competition. Supported by factors such as the continuous release of macro policy effects and the accelerated development of new quality productivity, the quality and efficiency of industry operations will continue to recover under pressure, and the business income and total profit will achieve a restorative growth. According to the data of the National Bureau of Statistics, from January to December 2024, there will be 13820 enterprises above the designated size (annual main business income of 20 million yuan and above) in the clothing industry in China, achieving an operating income of 12699.15 billion yuan, up 2.76% year on year, 8.16 percentage points higher than that in 2023; The total profit was 62.381 billion yuan, up 1.54% year on year, 4.93 percentage points higher than that in 2023; The operating income profit margin was 4.91%, 0.06 percentage points lower than that in the same period of 2023, but 0.67 percentage points higher than that in the first three quarters.

The scope of losses in the industry expanded, and the operating efficiency was basically stable. From January to December, the losses of enterprises above designated size in the clothing industry reached 20.07%, 1.03 percentage points higher than that of the same period in 2023; The proportion of three fees is 9.81%, 0.18 percentage points lower than that of the same period in 2023; The operating income of 100 yuan includes cost of 84.22 yuan, which is 0.11% higher than that of the same period in 2023; The turnover rate of finished products, the turnover rate of accounts receivable and the turnover rate of total assets were 10.45 times/year, 6.26 times/year and 1.16 times/year respectively, down 5.07%, 2.90% and 0.30% year on year, respectively. The slowdown in the turnover rate shows that the industry is under greater operational pressure.

Figure 5 Main benefit indicators of clothing industry from January to December 2024

Data source: National Bureau of Statistics

　　 Prospects for the Development Trend of China's Clothing Industry in 2025

From the perspective of the international market, the downward pressure on clothing exports has increased, the recovery momentum of international market demand is insufficient, the replenishment cycle of developed economies such as Europe and the United States has come to an end, and the geopolitical conflict, trade protectionism and other unstable and uncertain factors have increased, which will have a greater impact on China's clothing exports. On the one hand, the extent and pace of the new US government's tariff increase on China is the biggest uncertainty faced by China's clothing exports. We should also be alert that under this risk situation, the Trump government's trade policy may increase the scope of restrictions to Southeast Asia, South Asia and other trade entrepot countries, or trigger other countries to follow suit, For example, Mexico temporarily levies a 35% tariff on clothing imported from China, which will have a greater impact on clothing foreign trade. On the other hand, international purchasers will accelerate the pace of order transfer, and domestic garment enterprises will further accelerate the layout of global production capacity to avoid trade risks. At the same time, we should also see that China's clothing exports still have strong support, benefiting from the advantages of China's perfect clothing industry chain, modern manufacturing capacity and the strong resilience of diversified markets, as well as the powerful pull of new models and new formats such as cross-border e-commerce and overseas warehouses.

From the perspective of the domestic market, with the recovery of the domestic economy and the gradual enhancement of consumer confidence and market vitality, the domestic demand is expected to improve endogenously. It is expected that the domestic clothing market in China will show a stable and positive trend in 2025. With the addition of the low base factor in 2024, the growth rate of domestic sales may pick up, and the role of the domestic market as a ballast for the development of the clothing industry will be further strengthened. Multiple favorable factors will support the continuous recovery of the domestic clothing market: First, policies such as expanding domestic demand, promoting consumption, and benefiting people's livelihood will continue to work, and residents' income will increase and asset prices will stabilize, which will help improve consumption capacity and consumption willingness. The second is the rise of new consumer groups represented by Generation Z and the new middle class. New consumer growth points such as sports, national trend, green, etc., combined with the new retail model of online and offline integrated development, continue to stimulate market vitality. The consumption scene and consumption quality are innovated and upgraded, becoming the main engine to meet the higher level of spiritual and cultural pursuit and emotional value of the new era. Third, the county market showed huge consumption potential and demand for consumption reform. Chinese brands and e-commerce platforms accelerated their layout and sank into the market, driving the continuous release of clothing consumption demand. Fourth, with the concerted efforts of policies such as promoting consumption and improving the business environment, clothing brands and enterprises will strengthen product development and scene innovation, strengthen brand value creation through cultural empowerment, scientific and technological support, promote the recovery of product prices and corporate benefits, stimulate the endogenous power of enterprises, and help the domestic clothing market continue to recover.

In general, in 2025, China's clothing industry will still face difficulties and problems such as insufficient consumer demand, intense market competition, and increasing polarization. In particular, export-oriented manufacturing enterprises in the U.S. market will face significantly increased operating pressure. Under the complex and changeable situation, the clothing industry needs to adhere to the new industrial orientation of "science and technology, fashion, green and health", adhere to the general tone of seeking progress while maintaining stability, accelerate the cultivation and development of new quality productivity, solidly promote the transformation and upgrading of digital to intellectual transformation, green development, business type innovation and the construction of a modern industrial system, and strive to promote the continuation of a stable and sound development trend of the industry economy.

(Source: China Garment Association)