Global Fiber Production Hits 132 Million Tons, Polyester Leads the Charge

More fiber, but not more recycled. By the end of 2024, global fiber production, far from falling, had increased to 132 million tons, 5.6% more than the previous year. Despite the sector’s efforts to achieve the goals set out in the Paris Agreement, if the current trend continues, the figure will continue to grow to almost 169 million tons in 2030, warns Textile Exchange in its latest annual report.

“Since 2000, when global fiber production was 58 million tons, the figure has more than doubled since then,“ explains the text, while warning that, far from achieving progress in circularity, the sector still relies heavily on virgin synthetic fibers from fossil materials.

Polyester, in fact, remains the most produced material throughout 2024 and is increasing its market share. Specifically, world production of this fiber stood at 78 million tons at the end of the year, rising from 57% of the total a year ago to 59% of all fiber production.

Polyester has increased its share of global fiber production to 59% of the total

Although the production of recycled polyester also increased (from 8.9 million to 9.3 million tons), the general increase in the production of this material has caused its share of the total to fall. At the end of 2024, recycled polyester’s share of the total polyester market was 12%, half a percentage point less than a year ago.

Overall, recycled fibers as a whole accounted for 7.6% of the total. The majority, however, still come from plastic bottle recycling, with textile recycling making up just 1% of the total. “The industry’s reliance on virgin fossil synthetic fibers, as well as the limitations of textile-to-textile recycling, threaten to undermine the sector’s climate targets,“ the entity adds.

Cotton will be the second most produced material in 2024, although it will fall slightly from 24.8 million tons to 24.5 million tons in 2024. In total, cotton accounted for 19% of all world fiber production, one point less than the previous year.

Textile recycling accounts for 1% of total recycled fibers

In much smaller quantities, cellulose completes the list, with a production of 8.4 million tons and 6% of the market share; polyamide, with an annual production of 7 million tons and 5% of the total; and wool, with a production of 1 million tons and 0.9% of the total. In the area of raw materials, leather (13.8 million tons), down (0.67 million tons) and rubber (15 million tons) stand out.

Per person, the entity has calculated that the production of fiber per person now reaches 16.2 kilograms per person, compared to 8.3 kilograms in 1975. Again, Textile Exchange estimates that the figure will continue to rise, to more than 19.4 kilograms per person by 2030.