Middle East's share surges to 8.38% in UK's apparel imports

UK Trade Secretary Jonathan Reynolds and Trade Policy Minister Douglas Alexander recently visited the Gulf region to boost trade and investment. After the general election, the UK government aims to convene an International Investment Summit next month. This was the ministers’ first visit to the Gulf to strengthen trade and investment relations with the region. The Gulf region, especially Dubai in the UAE, is emerging as a trading and fashion hub for Europe and other nearby countries.

According to Fibre2Fashion's market insight tool TexPro, the UK imported $10.780 billion worth of apparel during January–June 2024. The Middle East was the third-largest apparel supplier after the Asia-Pacific and Europe. Imports from the region amounted to $902.941 million, which accounted for 8.38 per cent of the total imports.

In 2019, the UK imported $1.991 billion worth of apparel from the Middle East, which represented 6.01 per cent of its total imports of $33.125 billion. The region’s share surged to 7.14 per cent in 2020, with the UK’s apparel imports from the Middle East recorded at $2.155 billion, while total apparel imports stood at $30.186 billion.

The UK’s apparel imports dipped to $25.958 billion in 2021, but the Middle East's share further increased to 8.26 per cent, with imports from the region noted at $2.144 billion. Imports were valued at $28.466 billion in 2022 and $24.022 billion in 2023. The UK’s apparel imports from the Middle East were recorded at $2.635 billion (9.26 per cent) in 2022 and $2.105 billion (8.64 per cent) in 2023, according to TexPro.

Trade data shows that the UK’s apparel imports have been in decline over the last several years, except in 2022. The market share of the Middle East gained more than two per cent, reaching a high of 9.26 per cent in 2022.

ALCHEMPro News Desk (KUL)