Apparel and Footwear Declines Hit China’s Fashion Export Market by 2025

China’s yarns and fabrics maintain their overseas push, but finished garments fall. Chinese exports of yarns, fabrics and textile articles reached $142.585 billion between January and December 2025, which is only 0.5% more than in 2024, according to the latest statistics released by the General Administration of Customs of China (Gacc). This product category, which reached a turnover of $12.580 billion in December alone, was the one that showed the best performance within the sector as a whole, with a more stable evolution compared to other segments linked to fashion.

On the other hand, exports of clothing and accessories closed the year with a significant year-on-year decline of 5%. In 2025 as a whole, China exported garments worth $151.18 billion, while in 2025 the bill amounted to more than 159 billion. The data reflect the impact of weak demand in major international markets, especially in Europe and the United States, according to Gacc statistics.

Footwear was another segment that registered a decline. Chinese exports of this product plummeted by 11.3%. If in 2024 China had sold footwear abroad to the value of $46.86 billion, in 2025 the bill fell to 41.553 billion.

Overall, the performance of these chapters confirms the trend advanced by various sectoral analyses, which place the fall in Chinese textile and fashion exports at around 2.4% in 2025, with a greater impact on apparel products than on industrial products.

Weaker global demand, inventory adjustment and competitive pressure from other countries have put downward pressure on Chinese exports

The industry points out that the combination of weaker global demand, inventory adjustment in international retail and competitive pressure from other producing countries has conditioned the performance of exports during the year.

Despite this context, data from the General Administration of Customs of China reflect that the country maintains its strength as a global supplier of textile products, especially in yarns and fabrics, while the apparel industry faces a process of adaptation to gain added value and diversify markets in the run-up to 2026.