Ready-to-Wear and Apparel Industry Closes the Year With Three Records

Ready-Made Garment and Apparel Industry Closed Year with Three Records The ready-made garment and apparel sector created 51,000 new jobs in 2021, raising the workforce to over 659,000, while contributing USD 18 billion to closing the current account deficit. The ready-made garment and apparel industry, which ranks among Turkey's strategic sectors due to its value-added production, employment contribution, and net foreign currency earnings for the country's economy, closed 2021 with three records. The sector exceeded USD 20 billion in annual exports for the first time by increasing yearly shipments by more than USD 3 billion, while contributing over USD 18 billion to closing the current account deficit. The sector set its third record in employment, creating approximately 51,000 new jobs in 2021 and raising the workforce in production alone to over 659,000. Istanbul Ready-Made Garment and Apparel Exporters Association (İHKİB) Chairman Mustafa Gültepe stated in his remarks that the sector delivered a successful performance in 2021. Noting that ready-made garment and apparel exports reached USD 20.250 billion with 18.3% growth despite the raw material crisis that persisted throughout the year, Gültepe continued: "Due to changes in the global supply chain, particularly from the second half of the year onwards, we faced intense growth in orders. Our capacity utilization reached 83.2% in December. With new investments by companies expanding capacity to meet demand, we created approximately 51,000 new jobs. This allowed us to increase our production workforce to over 659,000. Parallel to strong demand and production, we achieved a major leap in exports after a seven-year hiatus. In 2021, we increased our ready-made garment and apparel exports by 18.3% compared to the previous year, reaching USD 20.250 billion. We earned over USD 18 billion in net foreign currency for our country. Had we not been forced to decline orders due to raw material access problems, we could have achieved even higher export rates. In 2021, I particularly want to emphasize the 20% increase in our exports to EU countries, notably Germany and Spain. I also attach great importance to our exports to the United States, which have been steadily rising in recent years, approaching the USD 1 billion mark with 19.8% growth. I anticipate that the upward trend we achieved in exports to the EU and United States will continue. Barring extraordinary challenges, I believe we will comfortably reach and exceed our export target of at least USD 23 billion for 2022. Turkey, with its recent advances, is recognized by global buyers as one of the three leading countries in ready-made garment sourcing. Thanks to this advantage in the international arena, we will soon reach our medium-term export target of USD 33 billion." he said. "We Can Create At Least 50,000 New Jobs This Year" Gültepe stated that İHKİB members generate approximately 70% of Turkey's total ready-made garment exports. Explaining that as the sector's flagship organization they are running various projects to prepare exporting companies for the changes and transformation accelerated by the pandemic, Gültepe continued: "The new era in the fashion industry is shaping around two fundamental dynamics. The first is digitalization, the second is sustainable and environmentally friendly production. We have been working on these two issues for years. We are nearing completion of the 'Digital Transformation of the Ready-Made Garment Sector from Design to Production' Project with EU grant support of EUR 10 million to lead our companies' digital transformation. Within the scope of the project, we have placed the Digital Transformation Center we established at the service of our sector. With EU grant support, we are awaiting final approval of our project designed with the goal of reducing carbon footprint in the sector. We have launched the 'Turkey Ready-Made Garment Sustainability Strategy' study to align with the Green Deal. We are working to make Istanbul a fashion hub and Anatolia a production base. By turning investment incentives into opportunities, we are guiding our companies toward equipping Anatolia with environmentally friendly production capacity through green factories. We need to make rapid capacity-expanding investments to meet the orders directed toward our country. However, the sector has been experiencing financing difficulties, particularly due to increased raw material costs. If we can access affordable credit, we can accelerate investments and create at least 50,000 new employment opportunities this year as well." he said. Figures Related to Turkey's Ready-Made Garment Sector Were Announced As Follows: Exports: USD 20.250 billion Current account deficit contribution: USD 18 billion Employment created in 2021: 50.8 thousand (January - October) Total employment in production: 659.4 thousand (October 2021) Kg/export unit price: USD 13.2 (Turkey average USD 1.3)