Lags far behind China, though.
By The American Bazaar Staff
NEW DELHI: India is the new #2 exporter of textiles in the world, surpassing nations like Germany, Italy, and Bangladesh, but still falling behind the China, which remains the world’s largest textile exporter.
The numbers are from the Apparel Export Promotion Council, the official body representative of India’s apparel exporters throughout the country. Their numbers indicate that China is, by a significant margin, the biggest textile exporter in the world, accounting for about $274 billion worth of the total $772 billion in exports around the world – that alone equals about 35.5% of the market share.
India, by comparison, only shipped out about $40 billion worth of textiles in 2013, enough to put it in second place but lagging behind China by $234 billion. India’s market share is just barely above 5% of the total international export scene. Still, the rise to #2 is nothing to be trifled, considering that India ranked #6 just one year ago, with about $33 billion in textile exports.
India’s individual clothing sector has seen robust growth in the last year, increase by about 43%. And, although India still lags behind China in total exports, its rate of growth is significantly higher – 23%. By comparison, China’s rate of growth is only about 11%, while Bangladesh, another textile export heavyweight traditionally, grew by just over 15% in 2013.
The textiles that India has been exporting consist predominantly of ready-made garments such as synthetic fabrics, cotton, wool, and silk. Additionally, products made of yarn and other comparable fabrics make up the majority of what India ships off to other countries.
Last November, India became the third-highest supplier of textiles to the US, according to the Department of Commerce’s Office of Textiles and Apparel (OTEXA). In that regard, India trails only Vietnam and Bangladesh, who are the #1 and #2 textile exporter to the US, respectively.