Japan's textile and apparel import demand recovered weakly in Jul

The latest data showed that Japan's textile and apparel import volume and value increased month-on-month and decreased year-on-year in July, but a double-digit decline compared with the same period in 2019. From view of the Japan's textile and apparel import volume and value from, the situation was similar, indicating that Japan's textile and apparel import demand was poor in July, and especially the apparel import performed weaker.

During Jan to Jul, Japan's textile and apparel import volume inched up by 1.9% year-on-year, but the value dropped by 11.6% year-on-year. The import volume and value declined by 4.2% and 12.8% respectively compared with that in same period of 2019. In terms of the import volume and value from China, the performance was better than total imports, with a small increase in volume, while the value was still shrinking.

From January to July this year, total imports and the imports from China only rose in February, March and June compared with the same period last year, while those fell in other months. However, in terms of import value, it only saw rise in February, while it fell other months. Thus it can be seen that Japan's textile and apparel import demand did not revive well.

Proportion of import volume of Japan's textile and apparel imported from China in total imports fell in Jul from the previous month, and that of import value was flat in July from a month earlier.

In conclusion, Japan's textile and apparel import volume and value both decreased in July compared with the same period last year, and also shrank compared with 2019. Although there was a MoM increase in July, Japan's textile and apparel import demand recovered weakly. Judging from the recovery from January to July this year, the improvement of Japan's textile and apparel import was less than that of EU and US.