Decline in US cotton clothing imports remains significant in Q3

In the third quarter of this year, the decline in clothing imports in the United States slowed down, with bigger decrease in cotton clothing imports than chemical fiber and wool clothing.

In the third quarter, clothing import of the United States decreased by 16.46% compared to the same period last year. Previously, the import declines in the first and second quarters of 2023 were 30.14% and 29.28% respectively. In the third quarter, the decline in cotton clothing imports was 19.30%, wool clothing was 15.12%, and chemical fiber clothing was 15.69%.

In the third quarter, the decline in various types of cotton clothing imports was still significant, except for non-knitting shirts and sweaters for men/boys, the import declines of other cotton clothing ranged from 20% to 46%. In the category of chemical fiber clothing, except for a 2.36% decrease in the import of men's/boys' sweaters and a 9.11% decrease in non-knitting shirts for men/boys, the decline in other categories all exceeded 10%, generally reaching 15-50%.

In the third quarter, the unit price of clothing imports in the United States fell again, with a year-on-year decrease of 6.9%. Cotton clothing fell by 5.9%, chemical fiber clothing fell by 7.5%, and wool clothing rose by 6.6%. The price changes of various products varied greatly. Although the unit price of imports fell in the third quarter, most products still remained higher than the same period of five years ago.

In the past five years, cotton clothing imports into the United States have declined by 16%, while chemical fiber clothing imports have only declined by 7%. The import volume of women's/girls' cotton trousers has decreased by 35%.