
Year over year, worldwide T-shirt imports accelerated in overall cost by 19.8% compared to $35.8 billion during 2020.
From a continental perspective, buyers in Europe purchased the highest dollar worth of imported T-shirts at $22.3 billion or 52% of the global total for 2021. In second place were importers in North America at 20.6% while another 19.8% of T-shirts imported worldwide was delivered to customers in Asia.
Smaller percentages went to Latin America (3.5%) excluding Mexico but including the Caribbean, Oceania (2.2%) mostly Australia and New Zealand, and Africa (1.8%).
Cotton is the dominant material for T-shirt manufacturing. Cotton T-shirts accounted for $31.2 billion in worldwide purchases or approaching three-quarters (72.6%) of all T-shirts imported during 2021. Similar apparel made from textiles other than cotton equaled $11.7 billion for the remaining 27.4%.
For research purposes, the 4-digit Harmonized Tariff System code prefix for knitted or crocheted T-shirt is 6109. Drilling down, cotton T-shirts fall under 610910 while T-shirts made from other materials are categorized as 610990.
T-shirt Imports by Country
Below are the 15 countries that imported the highest dollar value worth of knitted or crocheted T-shirts (regardless of source materials) during 2021.
- United States: US$7.4 billion (17.2% of total imported T-shirts)
- Germany: $4.4 billion (10.2%)
- France: $2.4 billion (5.6%)
- United Kingdom: $2.3 billion (5.3%)
- Japan: $2.1 billion (4.8%)
- Spain: $1.71 billion (4%)
- Italy: $1.69 billion (3.9%)
- Netherlands: $1.6 billion (3.7%)
- Belgium: $1.19 billion (2.8%)
- Poland: $1.15 billion (2.7%)
- China: $1.12 billion (2.6%)
- South Korea: $935.4 million (2.2%)
- Hong Kong: $800.7 million (1.9%)
- Austria: $776 million (1.8%)
- Australia: $774.7 million (1.8%)
By value, the listed 15 countries purchased 70.5% of all T-shirts imported in 2021.
Among the above countries, the fastest-growing markets for T-shirts since 2017 were: Poland (up 86.8%), mainland China (up 71%), South Korea (up 28.2%) and the United States of America (up 26.5%).
Those countries that posted declines in their purchases of imported T-shirts were led by: Hong Kong (down -17.2%), United Kingdom (down -12.4%), Spain (down -9.9%) and Japan (down -6%).
T-shirt Imports by Country: Cotton
Below are the 15 countries that imported the highest dollar value worth of cotton T-shirts during 2021.
By value, the listed 15 countries purchased 70.6% of all cotton T-shirts imported in 2021.
Among the above countries, the fastest-growing markets for cotton T-shirts since 2017 were: Poland (up 104%), mainland China (up 99.5%), Mexico (up 87.9%) and South Korea (up 60.2%).
A pair of leading buyers posted declines in their purchases of imported cotton T-shirts, namely Hong Kong (down -13%) and the United Kingdom (down -0.1%).
T-shirt Imports by Country: Non-Cotton Textiles
Below are the 15 countries that, during 2021, imported the highest dollar value worth of T-shirts made from textile materials other than cotton.
- United States: US$2.1 billion (17.6% of imported non-cotton T-shirts)
- Germany: $1.2 billion (10.6%)
- Japan: $786 million (6.7%)
- France: $692 million (5.9%)
- United Kingdom: $578.1 million (4.9%)
- Netherlands: $436.9 million (3.7%)
- Spain: $426.7 million (3.6%)
- South Korea: $325.6 million (2.8%)
- Belgium: $320.9 million (2.7%)
- Italy: $317.9 million (2.7%)
- China: $259.7 million (2.2%)
- Poland: $244 million (2.1%)
- Canada: $228.7 million (1.9%)
- Austria: $228.3 million (1.9%)
- United Arab Emirates: $227.9 million (1.9%)
By value, the listed 15 countries purchased 71.3% of all non-cotton T-shirts imported in 2021.
Among the above countries, the fastest-growing markets for non-cotton T-shirts since 2017 were: Poland (up 42.1%), United Arab Emirates (up 18.4%), mainland China (up 16.3%) and the United States of America (up 8.4%).
Those countries that posted declines in their purchases of imported non-cotton T-shirts were led by: United Kingdom (down -35.5%), Spain (down -33.8%), Italy (down -30.8%) and Japan (down -25.5%).
T-shirt Exporting Companies
According to global trading platform Alibaba, the following B2B (business-to-business) companies are examples of international T-shirt suppliers.
- B2B Print SIA (Latvia)
- CIAO Develop Co, Ltd (Taiwan)
- Dongguan Qinghuo Apparel Co, Ltd (China)
- Fashion Mag Trade (Italy)
- Guangzhou Mingmen Garments (China)
- Iniz Solutions (India)
- MONA Trading B2B (Poland)
- OITA Sports Industries (Pakistan)
- Push Top Service & Trading Co Ltd (Vietnam)
- Xiangshan Eco-Friendly Knitting Co (China)
The home-country location for each business is shown within parentheses.
See also T-shirt Exports by Country, Top Exported Hats by Country and Top Exported Baby Clothing Sales
Research Sources:
Central Intelligence Agency, The World Factbook Field Listing: Imports – Commodities. Accessed on September 1, 2022
International Trade Centre, Trade Map. Accessed on September 1, 2022
Investopedia, Net Exports Definition. Accessed on September 1, 2022