The updated data is available: Market Size of the Global Textile and Apparel Industry: 2016 to 2021/2022
Textile Mills Market
The textile mills market includes yarns and fabrics. The market value includes domestic production plus imports minus exports, all valued at manufacturer prices.
The value of the global textile mills market totaled $667.5 billion in 2015 (around 83.1% were fabrics and 16.9% were yarns), up 1.5% from a year earlier. The compound annual growth rate of the market was 4.4% between 2011–15. Asia-Pacific accounted for 54.6% of the global textile mills market value in 2015 and Europe accounted for a further 20.6% of the market.
The global textile mills market is forecast to reach $842.6 billion in value in 2020, an increase of 26.2% since 2015. The compound annual growth rate of the market in the period 2015–20 is predicted to be 4.8%.
Apparel market
The apparel market covers all clothing except leather, footwear, and knitted items as well as other technical, household, and made-up products. The market value includes domestic production plus imports minus exports, all valued at manufacturer prices.
The value of the global apparel market totaled $842.7 billion in 2016 (estimated), up 5.5% from a year earlier. The compound annual growth rate of the market was 5.2% between 2012–16. Asia-Pacific accounted for 60.7% of the global apparel market value in 2016 and Europe accounted for a further 15.0% of the market.
The global apparel market is forecast to reach $1,004.6 billion in value in 2021, an increase of 19.2% since 2016. The compound annual growth rate of the market in the period 2015–20 is predicted to be 3.6%.
Apparel retail market
The apparel retail industry consists of the sale of all menswear, womenswear and childrenswear. The industry value is calculated at retail selling price (RSP), and includes all taxes and duties.
The value of the global apparel retail market totaled $1,254.1 billion in 2015 (52.9% womenswear, 31.2% menswear and 15.9% childrenswear), up 4.8% from a year earlier. The compound annual growth rate of the market was 4.5% between 2011–15. Asia-Pacific accounted for 36.8% of the global apparel retail market in 2015, followed by Europe (27.8%) and the United States (24.0%).
The global apparel retail market is forecast to reach $1,652 billion in value in 2020, an increase of 31.8% since 2015. The compound annual growth rate of the market in the period 2015–20 is predicted to be 5.7%.
Data source: MarketLine (2017)
FASH455 Global Apparel & Textile Trade and Sourcing 
I’ve always known that the fashion industry played a huge role in the economy, but actually seeing the numbers is wild. The articles says, “The value of the global textile mills market totaled $667.5 billion in 2015 ” and continues, “The global textile mills market is forecast to reach $842.6 billion in value in 2020, an increase of 26.2% since 2015.” Seeing these huge numbers just proves how important this industry is and how important all of our roles as fashion students are.
As a senior about to graduate and enter the apparel and textile industry, it was relieving to see the growth in the industry and the predicted growth. Based on my learning in Fash 455, I can agree that the industry will definitely continue to grow. Despite the retail world changing, the manufacturing and production of apparel and textile is long lasting. I think it will be interesting to see what countries will become the leading producers, especially with changing technologies. I personally think it will be very interesting to see textile production to return to the United States. I think for the United States to compete with economic growth of other countries, especially Asian countries, we will definitely need to grow our domestic apparel and textile industries. As the post mentions, the global apparel retail market is forecast to reach $1,65.2 billion in value in 2020. With a number that high, it is definitely a market to continue to be a part of.
It is a common trend that the most developed countries have the highest labor wages. You would think It makes sense, these countries have stronger economies, higher education levels, and more room for growth in the work place. Yet, China is one of the strongest economies in the world, yet they pay a mere $3 for labor. With that much global power and influence, it is surprising that not more is done to help better lives of their people. But from what I have learned in class, under developed countries are in a vicious cycle. Their most business comes from the fact that they offer the cheapest labor costs. In my opinion, the entire consumer industry needs to change. In order for the world to grow and receive the livable wages, consumers need to stop expecting the cheapest prices for products.
I find that as students who study the textile and apparel industry we know how much this industry truly contributes to the U.S. economy, but that it is typically overlooked by the average person. They aren’t truly aware how much revenue this industry brings in compared to more popular industries such as electronics or food/agriculture. As someone who plans on developing a career in this industry it is so inspiring and reassuring to see the predicted growth illustrated in these charts. I find this especially exciting for certain markets such as womenswear as this is most likely where I will be looking for jobs as graduation approaches.
“T&A” market demand trend of slowing steadily in the United States, but consumers will dress on discretionary spending, considering the demand of discretionary income elasticity is larger, the economic instability, will affect the textile and garment consumption growth. In addition, the United States from the textile and garment industry rapid development of textile and apparel products imported Asia’s emerging economies have a growth trend, while imports from China have a downward trend, China’s textile and apparel products are exported to the United States is facing a larger export competitive pressure.
As the most globalized industry, the garment industry has developed into a comprehensive system of science, technology, art and innovation. In my opinion, global apparel sales have gradually recovered from the economic crisis of 2009, and e-commerce is the main reason for the increase in apparel sales. In 2015, the Indian apparel e-commerce market reached us $1.8 billion, and the annual compound growth rate is expected to be as high as 63 percent by 2020. According to a report by the Boston consulting group and Facebook, the number of consumers in the Indian network’s shopping clothing will reach 1.3 to 135 million by 2020. Large population profits, increased Internet penetration, infrastructure development and purchasing power have contributed to the development of the Indian apparel e-commerce market. While India is relatively small compared with the largest apparel e-commerce markets such as the United States and China, it also means it has huge potential for development. Therefore, people’s views should also change with the development of the world. At the same time, students as fashion majors are happy to see these changes and it prove that they have chosen the right path.