UK's clothing imports down 28.5 per cent to £1.27 bn in May 2023

Imports of textile fabric in May 2023 declined by 9.75 per cent to £518 million, compared to £574 million in May 2022. Despite this annual decrease, there was a monthly increase from the £440 million recorded in April 2023. Meanwhile, the UK's fibre imports were £37 million in May 2023, a decrease from both May 2022 (£45 million) and April 2023 (£32 million). 

For the first quarter (Q1) of 2023, the total UK clothing imports were £4.137 billion, fabric imports were £1.432 billion, and textile fibres were at £110 million. 

In 2022, the country’s total clothing imports were £21.255 billion ($27.87 billion), reflecting a 23.50 per cent growth compared to £17.034 billion in 2021. The imports of textile fabric and textile fibres for 2022 were £6.357 billion and £545 million, respectively. 

In terms of exports, the UK's clothing sector generated £305 million in May 2023, slightly down from the £306 million in May 2022. The figure for April 2023 was £282 million. The first quarter of 2023 saw a decline in clothing exports to £943 million, a reduction from £955 million in Q1 2022 and £1,151 million in Q4 2022. For 2022, exports fell to £3.931 billion from the previous year's £4.263 billion. Exports of textile fabrics and fibres in 2022 were reported at £2.716 billion and £616 million, respectively. 

ALCHEMPro News Desk (KUL)