Ireland's cotton apparel imports reach $565 million, 42% of total

Imports of man-made fibre apparel reached $499.516 million between January and June 2024, making up 37.73 per cent of the total apparel imports. Apparel made from wool or animal hair was valued at $28.299 million (2.14 per cent), while silk apparel stood at $2.320 million (0.18 per cent). Apparel imports from other materials totalled $228.620 million, accounting for 17.27 per cent, according to Fibre2Fashion's market insight tool TexPro.

An analysis of trade data by product type reveals that imports of trousers and shorts were valued at $271.559 million in the first six months of 2024, representing 20.51 per cent of the total imports, making it the largest category of apparel imported into the country.

Among the top five products, jerseys accounted for $166.536 million (12.58 per cent), T-shirts for $164.926 million (12.46 per cent), dresses for $156.770 million (11.84 per cent), and shirts for $148.956 million (11.25 per cent). These top five product categories together represented over 67 per cent of the total apparel imports in the first half of 2024, according to TexPro.

Ireland’s apparel imports in the first half of 2024 were slightly higher compared to the $1,307.615 million imported during the same period in the previous year. The country’s total apparel imports in 2023 amounted to $2,767.425 million, which was slightly lower than the $2,805.592 million imported in 2022.

ALCHEMPro News Desk (KUL)