Textile and Clothing

Decline in the textile and clothing industry

The textile and clothing industry is an industry hard to define because it includes both production and sales of textile and clothing products. Further, the textile and clothing industry consists of retail, wholesale and commission trade in textile and clothing products.

In terms of production, i.e.  textile and clothing manufacturing, the industry in 2008 comprised of nearly 900 companies, which is almost 1/4 less than in 2000.¹ Though the industry has experienced a decrease in number of companies, the sizes of the sub-industries (textile, garment and leather/footwear respectively) has been fairly constant over time.²

Decline in turnover 
Parallel to the number of companies in Denmark, turnover in the industry declined from 2000 to 2008 - with almost 30% and exacerbated during the crisis.³ Observing the entire industry, i.e. including wholesale, retail and commission trade in textiles, clothing and footwear, the industry experienced decreasing turnover of 8.8% from 2008 to 2009.⁴

Half come from export
The textile and clothing industry is neither an export heavy industry, nor is it export light. Approximately half of the textile and clothing industry's turnover derives from exports, and the tendencies have been constant since 2000. However, it is improbable that the wholesale, retail and commission trade in textiles, clothing and footwear products experience similar export intensity.

Fewer employees
The textile and clothing industry, like many other industries, have experienced decline in the number of full-time employees over the past years. As such, from 2000 to 2008, employment fell by over 5,000, representing a decrease of 44.4%.

It is worth noting that this figure does not include wholesale, retail and commission trade in textiles, clothing and footwear products. Were they to be included, it cannot be ruled out, that the number of fulltime employees in the same period has increased.

¹ Statistikbanken, GF2. 
² Statistikbanken, GF2. 
³ Statistikbanken, GF2 (current prices). 
⁴ Statistikbanken, FIKS1. 
⁵ Statistikbanken, GF2.

• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4
• View Links