India is the 6th largest exporter of Textiles & Apparel in the world in 2023. The share of textile and apparel (T&A) including handicrafts in India’s total exports stands at a significant 8.21% in 2023-24. Our country has a share of 3.9% of the global trade in textiles and apparel. Major textile and apparel export destinations for India are USA and EU and with around 47% share in total textile and apparel exports. India is a major textile and apparel exporting country and enjoys trade surplus. Bulk of import takes place for re-export or for industry requirement of raw material.
It is noteworthy that export is a function of demand and supply and depends on factors such as global demand, internal consumption and demand, order flow, logistics etc. Exports also gets affected by many geopolitical situations (such as red sea crisis, Bangladesh crisis etc.). Export in FY 2024 was initially low mainly due to the geopolitical crises around red sea, which affected export movement during January, February and March 2024.
The overall export of Textiles & Apparel (incl. handicrafts) marked a growth of 7% during April-October period of FY 2024-25 ($ 21,358 Mn) compared to same period of FY 2023-24 ($ 20,007 Mn).Ready Made Garments (RMG) category with export of $ 8,733 Mn has the largest share (41%) in the total exports ($ 21,358 Mn) during the period of April-October of FY 2024-25, followed by Cotton Textiles (33%, $ 7,082 Mn), Man- Made Textiles (15%, $ 3,105 Mn).Growth of exports is observed in all principal commodities during the period of April-October of FY 2024-25 compared to corresponding period of FY 2023-24, except wool and handloom which decline by 19% and 6% respectively.
Import of textiles and apparel products by India during FY 2023-24 ($ 8,946 Mn) has decreased by approximately 15% in comparison to FY 2022-23 ($10,481 Mn).The overall import of Textiles & Apparel (incl. handicrafts) decline 1% during April-October period of FY 2024-25 ($ 5,425 Mn) compared to same period of FY 2023-24 ($ 5,464 Mn) Man-made Textiles category with import of $1859 Mn has the largest share (34%) in the total imports ($ 5,425 Mn) during the period of April-October of FY 2024-25, as there is demand supply gap in this sector. Growth of imports is observed majorly in Cotton Textiles mainly on account of import of long staple cotton fibre and such trends of import indicates towards an increase in production capacity of the country amidst rising consumption and self reliance.
