Recent changes in Turkey's textile and apparel exports

The Turkish market has always been one of the main sources of textile and apparel imports of Europe. In recent years, China's share in the textile and apparel import market in Europe and the United States has been declining. What changes have occurred in Turkey as an important source of textile and apparel imports in Europe?

From the above chart, it can be seen that Turkey's export value of textile and apparel remained relatively stable from 2011 to 2020, with an average value of $26.9 billion. However, in 2021-2022, export value grew significantly, reaching $34.4 billion. This may be related to China's epidemic prevention policy during the pandemic and European orders favoring Turkey, which is geographically closer. As China's epidemic prevention policy has been relaxed this year, have orders returned to China? Actually, that's not necessarily the case. On the one hand, Europe has been affected by the Russia-Ukraine war, leading to a significant increase in energy costs, marked inflation, and a decline in people's purchasing power. On the other hand, in recent years, countries like India, ASEAN, Bangladesh, and Turkey have been developing rapidly, so it is uncertain whether orders will return to China. The 7.8-magnitude earthquake in southern Turkey on February 6 this year affected textile and apparel orders. Some orders were transferred to other regions at that time, so the decline in exports from January to May may be due not only to weaker demand but also to the earthquake. Cumulative export value from January to May was $13.5 billion, down 6.4 percent year-on-year. However, the export value in May increased significantly by 20.9%, marking the highest increase since May last year and the fourth positive growth in nearly a year.   

In terms of export structure, which categories dominate? As can be seen from the following chart, Turkey's main export categories are Chapter 61, which refers to knitted or crocheted clothing and clothing accessories, followed by Chapter 62, which refers to non-knitted or non-crocheted apparel and clothing accessories. From January to May this year, these two categories accounted for 56% of the total. Chapter 57 followed, which includes carpets and other floor coverings. Chapter 63 is other made-up textile products, textile sets, worn clothing and textiles, as well as fabric scraps. While the proportion of Chapter 52, which includes cotton and cotton fabrics, is relatively small.   

Looking at the changes in Turkey's textile and apparel export structure this year, Chapter 52 (cotton and cotton fabric, etc.), Chapter 55 (Chemical fiber materials and fabric, etc.), and Chapter 63 (other textile products, textile sets, worn clothing and textiles, as well as fabric scraps) experienced significant declines, decreasing by 17%, 15.1%, and 24.7% respectively.

Overall, Turkey's textile and apparel exports are under pressure this year. Although the performance in May is still decent, it does not necessarily indicate a turning point. In terms of export categories, knitted apparel has the largest proportion, followed by woven clothing, with textiles accounting for a relatively small proportion. From January to May this year, exports of semi-finished cotton and chemical fiber textile products were affected, with double-digit declines in both.