That dollar amount results from a 9.8% increase for all T-shirt exporters over the five-year period starting in 2019 when exported T-shirts were worth $47.2 billion.
Year over year, revenues from globally exported T-shirts fell by -10.5% compared to $57.9 billion starting from 2022.
The 5 biggest exporters of knitted or crocheted t-shirts are mainland China, Bangladesh, Germany, Vietnam and Türkiye. Collectively, that leading quintet generated 48.8% of total international sales for knitted or crocheted t-shirts.
Among continents, suppliers in Asia sold the highest dollar worth of exports for knitted or crocheted T-shirts (inclusive of all types of materials) during 2023 with shipments valued at $28.7 billion or 55.4% of overall T-shirt exports. In second place were European shippers at another 30.5%.
Smaller percentages of total t-shirt exports were sourced from Latin America (6.8%) excluding Mexico but including the Caribbean, North America (4.5%), Africa (2.7%) then Oceania (0.1%) led by Australia and New Zealand.
Most Popular T-Shirt Materials
Cotton is the dominant material used in t-shirt manufacturing. Cotton t-shirts accounted for $35.8 billion in international sales or well over two-thirds (69.2%) of total exported t-shirts. Similar apparel made from textiles other than cotton equaled $15.9 billion for the remaining 30.8%.
International sales of exported t-shirts made from cotton shrank by -11.7% from 2022 to 2023. International revenues from t-shirts comprised of non-cotton materials rose by a slower rate (down -7.8% from 2022).
For research purposes, the 4-digit Harmonized Tariff System code prefix for knitted or crocheted t-shirts is 6109. Drilling down, cotton T-shirts fall under 610910 while t-shirts made from other materials are categorized as 610990.
T-shirt Exports by Country
Below are the 15 countries that exported the highest dollar value worth of t-shirts (regardless of source materials) during 2023.
- mainland China: US$9.1 billion (17.6% of total t-shirt exports)
- Bangladesh: $7.9 billion (15.2%)
- Germany: $2.9 billion (5.7%)
- Vietnam: $2.7 billion (5.2%)
- Türkiye: $2.69 billion (5.2%)
- Italy: $2.1 billion (4%)
- India: $2.1 billion (4%)
- Belgium: $1.5 billion (2.8%)
- France: $1.4 billion (2.7%)
- Netherlands: $1.3 billion (2.6%)
- Spain: $1.2 billion (2.3%)
- United States: $1.13 billion (2.2%)
- Mexico: $1.12 billion (2.2%)
- Poland: $1.06 billion (2.1%)
- Nicaragua: $916.5 million (1.8%)
By value, the listed 15 countries shipped 75.5% of t-shirt exports in 2023.
Among the above countries, the fastest-growing t-shirt exporters since 2022 were: Poland (up 5.8%), France (up 5.2%), Netherlands (up 3.5%) and Belgium (up 3.3%).
Five countries posted declines in their exported t-shirt sales: Bangladesh (down -18.4% from 2022), India (down -17.6%), Spain (down -9.2%), United States of America (down -4.4%) and Mexico (down -3.9%).
Cotton T-shirt Exports by Country
Below are the 15 countries that exported the highest dollar value worth of cotton T-shirts during 2023.
- Bangladesh: US$7 billion (19.6% of exported cotton t-shirts)
- mainland China: $4.3 billion (12.1%)
- Germany: $2.1 billion (5.9%)
- Türkiye: $1.8 billion (5%)
- Italy: $1.65 billion (4.6%)
- Vietnam: $1.62 billion (4.5%)
- India: $1.56 billion (4.4%)
- France: $1.1 billion (3%)
- Netherlands: $1 billion (2.8%)
- United States: $949.1 million (2.7%)
- Spain: $920.3 million (2.6%)
- Belgium: $908.7 million (2.5%)
- Poland: $871.5 million (2.4%)
- Mexico: $787.9 million (2.2%)
- Portugal: $762.3 million (2.1%)
By value, the listed 15 countries shipped 76.5% of globally exported cotton t-shirts in 2023.
Among the above countries, the fastest-growing exporters of cotton t-shirts since 2022 were: Poland (up 5.9%), France (also up 5.9%), Vietnam (up 5.8%) and Belgium (up 4.2%).
Those countries that posted declines in their exported cotton t-shirts sales were led by: Bangladesh (down -19%), India (down -16.8%), Spain (down -11.1%), mainland China (down -6.6%) and Türkiye (down -4.6%).
Non-Cotton Textile T-shirt Exports by Country
Below are the 15 countries that, during 2023, exported the highest dollar value worth of T-shirts made from textile materials other than cotton.
- mainland China: US$4.8 billion (30% of exported non-cotton t-shirts)
- Vietnam: $1.1 billion (6.7%)
- Türkiye: $890 million (5.6%)
- Bangladesh: $852.5 million (5.4%)
- Germany: $823 million (5.2%)
- Belgium: $547.5 million (3.4%)
- India: $532.1 million (3.3%)
- Italy: $439.7 million (2.8%)
- Netherlands: $337.8 million (2.1%)
- Cambodia: $329.1 million (2.1%)
- Mexico: $317.5 million (2%)
- Sri Lanka: $305.7 million (1.9%)
- France: $303.4 million (1.9%)
- Spain: $278 million (1.7%)
- Pakistan: $276.9 million (1.7%)
By value, the listed 15 countries shipped 75.8% of globally exported non-cotton t-shirts in 2023.
Among the above countries, the fastest-growing exporters of non-cotton t-shirts since 2022 were: Netherlands (up 16.3%), Italy (up 6.6%), Germany (up 5.4%) and France (up 3%).
Those countries that posted declines in their exports of non-cotton t-shirts were led by: Cambodia (down -31.6% from 2022), Sri Lanka (down -20.1%), India (down -19.8%), Pakistan (down -18.9%) and Bangladesh (down -13.1%).
T-shirt Exporting Companies
According to global trading platform Alibaba, the following suppliers are examples of established T-shirt companies.
- Fab Collections Limited (Bangladesh)
- Herbert Georg Santura (Portugal)
- Idea Group IGM SRL (Italy)
- Luxiberg (France)
- Nanchang Dongshen Knitted Garment Co, Ltd (China)
- NFS Trade International (Germany)
- PBM Polytex Limited (India)
- Ruma North America Group S de RL de CV (Mexico)
- Sky Apparel Limited (Turkey)
- Vietgo Company Limited (Vietnam)
The home-country location for each above business is shown within parentheses.
See also T-shirt Imports by Country, Top Fur Clothing Exporters Plus Average Prices for Furskin Clothes, Cotton Imports by Country and Top Exported Baby Clothing Sales
Research Sources:
Alibaba, Supplier showroom for T-shirts. Accessed on August 8, 2024
Central Intelligence Agency, The World Factbook Field Listing: Exports – Commodities. Accessed on August 8, 2024
Forbes Global 2000 rankings, The World’s Biggest Public Companies. Accessed on August 8, 2024
International Trade Centre, Trade Map. Accessed on August 8, 2024
Investopedia, Net Exports Definition. Accessed on August 8, 2024
Wikipedia, T-shirt. Accessed on August 8, 2024