Turkey 3rd largest exporter of clothes to EU

By Aysu Bicer

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey is the third-largest exporter of clothes to the EU, the bloc's statistical authority said Friday.

"The EU imported clothes worth €154 billion [$166 billion] in 2019, just over half of which came from non-EU Member States (52%, or €80 billion)," Eurostat said.

"Imports of clothes from non-EU countries came mainly from China (€23 billion, or 29% of total extra-EU clothes), Bangladesh (€15 billion, 19%) and Turkey (€9 billion, 11%)," it said.

Over the last decade, imports of clothing to the bloc increased in value by 62%.

Germany stood out as the largest importer of clothes from non-EU countries.

This made up €19 billion worth of clothes which equaled 23% of extra-EU imports of the commodity.

Germany was ahead of Spain (€13 billion, 16%), France (€11 billion, 14%), the Netherlands (€10 billion, 13%) and Italy (€8 billion, 10%).

- Italy, largest clothing exporter

Among member states, Italy exported clothes worth €12 billion to non-EU Member States in 2019, making the country the largest extra-EU exporter of clothes, ahead of Germany (€6 billion, 16%), Spain (€5 billion, 15%), and France (€4 billion, 13%).

Although trade in textiles has increased significantly over the last decade, factory closures and transport restrictions related to the current coronavirus pandemic may affect this trend, according to Eurostat.