Fashion Fuels Europe’s Economy With €331.8 Billion Contribution to EU GDP

Fashion, a pillar of European growth. The set of European fashion companies contributed up to €331.8 billions ($ 385,1 billions) in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the European Union in 2023, according to the latest impact study conducted by the European Branded Clothing Association (Ebca). The European employers’ association has highlighted fashion as a “strategic pillar” in the future economic development of the EU-27.

According to data from the latest report, carried out together with Oxford Economics, the direct impact of fashion alone reached €55.4 billions ($64,3 billions), 8.5% of the total impact of the European retail sector on the economies of the European Union. In parallel, the activity of fashion companies generated another €190.1 billions ($220,6 billions) of impact indirectly, and another €86.2 billions ($100 billions) in an induced way.

With respect to the EU GDP in 2023, which stood at €14.6 trillions ($16,9 trillions), fashion is therefore responsible for more than 2% of it. “ Within the European Union, fashion has a substantial economic and employment impact,“ added the European employers’ association of fashion companies.

Fashion was responsible for up to 2% of EU GDP in 2023

The report has also quantified the impact of the sector in terms of employment, being responsible for up to 4.5 million jobs in the EU countries as a whole. Directly generated employment, which amounts to 1.3 million people, is equivalent to 9.4% of the entire retail sector workforce in the European Union.

Indirectly, however, fashion also provides employment for another 2.2 million people, and up to 1 million more indirectly. For every person the industry employs, another 2.5 jobs are supported in other sectors, the Ebca report continues, which “reflects a strategic retention of high-skilled, value-added jobs.“

According to data from the employers’ association, the European Union is also the world’s largest importer of fashion, and the second largest in terms of exports. Of the sector’s total turnover, moreover, brands account for up to 80% of the entire European fashion retail market.