UK's clothing imports down 25% to £15.70 bn in 2023

20 Feb '24

2 min read

Pic: Adobe Stock

Insights

In 2023, the United Kingdom saw a significant decline in clothing imports, dropping to £15.702 billion from £21.203 billion in 2022.
Textile fabric imports decreased by 12.74 per cent to £5,547 million, while fibre imports fell to £413 million.
December 2023 witnessed a 40.40 per cent decrease in clothing imports compared to the previous year.

United Kingdom’s clothing imports nosedived 25.94 per cent to £15.702 billion ($19.83 billion) in 2023 against the shipment of £21.203 billion ($26.78 billion) of 2022, according to the UK’s Office for National Statistics (ONS). The imports amounted to £17.034 billion in 2021, £20.791 billion in 2020, £20,949 billion in in 2019 and £20.059 billion in 2018.

Imports of textile fabric in 2023 fell 12.74 per cent to £5,547 million, compared with £6,357 million in 2022. Meanwhile, the UK’s fibre imports in 2023 were £413 million, a decrease from £562 million in 2022.

In December 2023, clothing imports amounted to £0.947 billion ($1.19 billion), a 40.40 per cent decrease from the previous year’s £1.589 billion in the same month. There was also a month-on-month decline, with November 2023’s figure recorded at £1.274 billion.

Imports of textile fabric in December 2023 fell by 23.84 per cent to £345 million, compared with £453 million in December 2022. It was also a month-on-month decrease from November 2023’s £478 million. UK’s fibre imports in December 2023 were £24 million, a decrease from both December 2022’s £36 million, and from November 2023’s £29 million.

In terms of exports, the UK’s clothing sector generated £3,772 million in 2023, down from £3,960 million in 2022. The exports of textile fabrics and textile fibres were £2,737 million and £667 million respectively. In December 2023, clothing, textile fabric, and textile fibre exports were amounted to £300 million, £207 million and £60 million respectively.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (KUL)

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