UK's clothing imports down 20.6 per cent to £1.24 bn in Jun 2023

Imports of textile fabric in June 2023 declined by 7.77 per cent to £498 million, compared to £540 million in June 2022. There was also a month-on-month decrease from the £516 million recorded in May 2023. Meanwhile, the UK's fibre imports were £36 million in June 2023, a decrease from both June 2022 (£54 million) and May 2023 (£37 million). 

For the second quarter (Q2) of 2023, the total UK clothing imports were £3.701 billion, fabric imports were £1.454 billion, and textile fibres were at £104 million. The imports of clothing totalled £7.838 billion during the first half of 2023. The imports of fabric were noted at £2.886 billion, and textile fibres at £214 million in the period. 

In 2022, the country's total clothing imports were £21.255 billion ($27.06 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 £308 million in June 2023, slightly up from the £293 million in June 2022. The figure for May 2023 was £305 million. The second quarter of 2023 saw a slight rise in clothing exports to £895 million, from £891 million in Q2 2022 and £941 million in Q1 2022. During the first half of 2023, the imports of clothing totalled £1.836 billion. 

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)