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Türkiye’s textile and apparel industries generated $26.18 billion in exports in 2025, securing a $17 billion trade surplus despite slumping global demand and domestic challenges such as rising labor costs and tight financial conditions.
Official data shows that apparel exports fell sharply by 6.3% to $16.77 billion, while textile exports dipped 0.8% to $9.4 billion, resulting in a combined contraction of 4.4% year-over-year.
Commenting on the figures, Ahmet Oksuz, Chair of the Istanbul Textile and Raw Materials Exporters’ Association (ITHIB), said the two industries together represent the largest production segment in Türkiye’s manufacturing sector.
"Along with apparel, we are the top manufacturing sector with a production value of $77.2 billion," Oksuz said. "Textiles account for $44.8 billion and apparel for $32.4 billion."
In a broader global context, Türkiye ranks fifth among the world’s largest textile exporters, he highlighted. China tops the list with $141 billion, followed by India ($19 billion), the U.S. ($18 billion), and Germany ($13 billion). Türkiye and Italy are tied in fifth place with $12 billion each.
"Eight of the top 10 textile exporting countries are G20 members, and four are in the G7," Oksuz noted.
The European Union remained the primary destination for Turkish textile exports in 2025, absorbing $4.5 billion in shipments. Italy ranked first among individual countries with $838 million, followed by the United States with $792 million and Germany with $715 million.
Oksuz also highlighted Egypt as the standout growth market. "Following new Turkish investments in Egypt, our exports there reached an all-time high," he said. “We exported $344 million in 2023, $461 million in 2024, and $567 million in 2025—up 23% in one year."
Türkiye’s textile and apparel sectors far outperform the national average in export value per kilogram. While the country’s overall average stood at $1.59 per kilogram in 2025, the textile sector reached $4.3 per kilogram, and the apparel sector soared to $21.3 per kilogram.
This export premium signals both sectors’ competitive edge in producing high-value-added goods, even as overall volumes face headwinds.
Amid weak domestic demand and a global slowdown, textile imports into Türkiye continued to decline. Imports fell from $9.2 billion in 2023 to $8.2 billion in 2024 and further to $7.3 billion in the January–November 2025 period.
Meanwhile, the use of the inward processing regime, a measure that allows duty-free import of raw materials for export production, has increased.
In 2022, 19.5% of textile imports were under the inward processing regime; this rose to 22.9% in 2025. By contrast, the average inward processing regime share in Türkiye’s overall imports hovered around 10% over the same period.
Despite its large export base, the industry has faced significant job losses. Oksuz stated that employment across textile and apparel fell by 10.9% year-over-year. Apparel saw a 12.1% decline, while textiles dropped 9.3%.
At its peak in August 2022, the combined sectors employed around 1.25 million people. As of 2025, that figure has dropped to roughly 860,000 workers.
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