Will India be able to pick its RMG exports? Will we outpace our competitors? Are we able enough to combat productivity challenges? These are some of the questions that Indian apparel export industry has been asking since years, and when 2019 started, the manufacturers were hopeful to see positive outturn in India’s apparel export which could not happen. India reported sluggish growth of 3.56 per cent in 2019 and could export apparels worth US $ 16.25 billion as compared to US $ 15.69 billion in 2018. Though the growth is still higher than its neighbouring country Bangladesh which grew by just 0.44 per cent, the opportunity of shifting business from China is again lost.
According to Department of Commerce (India), European Union – the largest apparel export destination for India – fell by 4.20 per cent to import US $ 5.99 billion worth of garments in 2019. The export to EU from India valued at US $ 6.25 billion in 2018. As per Apparel Resources’ analysis, India plunged both in knit and woven categories significantly. Knitted apparels export fell by 6.11 per cent and valued at US $ 2.94 billion in 2019, while the export value in 2018 stood at US $ 3.14 billion. Export of woven category slid 2.43 per cent to earn US $ 3.04 billion revenue in 2019 as compared to US $ 3.12 billion in 2018.
As far as top EU destinations are concerned, UK, Germany, France, Spain and Netherlands all fell down in their respective RMG imports from India during 2019. As described in Table – 1 below, you can see the export performance of India to EU – country-wise. It’s worth mentioning here that these 5 markets accommodated 75.45 per cent of India’s total export to EU with a combined value of US $ 4.52 billion and dwindling export performance in these countries is surely a factor of worry for the country.
| India’s Apparel Export to European Union Countries (2019) | ||||||||||
| S. No. | Country Name | Knitted | Woven | Total (CY 2018) |
Total (CY 2019) |
% Change | ||||
| CY 2018 | CY 2018 | % Change | CY 2018 | CY 2018 | % Change | |||||
| 1 | Austria | 5.56 | 6.56 | 17.99 | 15.41 | 13.94 | -9.54 | 20.97 | 20.5 | -2.24 |
| 2 | Belgium | 93.31 | 100.59 | 7.80 | 100.51 | 89.12 | -11.33 | 193.82 | 189.71 | -2.12 |
| 3 | Bulgaria | 0.42 | 0.14 | -66.67 | 1.29 | 0.47 | -63.57 | 1.71 | 0.61 | -64.33 |
| 4 | Cyprus | 0.62 | 0.18 | -70.97 | 0.45 | 1.01 | 124.44 | 1.07 | 1.19 | 11.21 |
| 5 | Czech Republic | 29.98 | 32.97 | 9.97 | 21.2 | 22.94 | 8.21 | 51.18 | 55.91 | 9.24 |
| 6 | Germany | 671.33 | 560.06 | -16.57 | 482.36 | 453.35 | -6.01 | 1153.69 | 1013.41 | -12.16 |
| 7 | Denmark | 59.89 | 56.05 | -6.41 | 145.44 | 168.51 | 15.86 | 205.33 | 224.56 | 9.37 |
| 8 | Estonia | 0.71 | 0.21 | -70.42 | 1.31 | 0.27 | -79.39 | 2.02 | 0.48 | -76.24 |
| 9 | Spain | 274.15 | 278.15 | 1.46 | 521.82 | 482.77 | -7.48 | 795.97 | 760.92 | -4.40 |
| 10 | Finland | 11.47 | 11.29 | -1.57 | 5.15 | 4.63 | -10.10 | 16.62 | 15.92 | -4.21 |
| 11 | France | 390.91 | 354.2 | -9.39 | 354.88 | 342 | -3.63 | 745.79 | 696.2 | -6.65 |
| 12 | United Kingdom | 785.11 | 758.96 | -3.33 | 835.37 | 834.98 | -0.05 | 1620.48 | 1593.94 | -1.64 |
| 13 | Greece | 9.91 | 8.88 | -10.39 | 19.05 | 25.21 | 32.34 | 28.96 | 34.09 | 17.71 |
| 14 | Croatia | 1.44 | 1.12 | -22.22 | 1.8 | 2.02 | 12.22 | 3.24 | 3.14 | -3.09 |
| 15 | Hungary | 1.95 | 2.15 | 10.26 | 1.74 | 0.64 | -63.22 | 3.69 | 2.79 | -24.39 |
| 16 | Ireland | 52.44 | 52.19 | -0.48 | 18.43 | 16 | -13.19 | 70.87 | 68.19 | -3.78 |
| 17 | Italy | 259.48 | 206.81 | -20.30 | 162.6 | 158.31 | -2.64 | 422.08 | 365.12 | -13.50 |
| 18 | Lithuania | 0.17 | 0.2 | 17.65 | 1.24 | 0.87 | -29.84 | 1.41 | 1.07 | -24.11 |
| 19 | Luxembourg | 0.15 | 0.06 | -60.00 | 0.11 | 0.11 | 0.00 | 0.26 | 0.17 | -34.62 |
| 20 | Latvia | 0.16 | 0.87 | 443.75 | 0.52 | 1.58 | 203.85 | 0.68 | 2.45 | 260.29 |
| 21 | Malta | 0.07 | 0.14 | 100.00 | 0.15 | 0.16 | 6.67 | 0.22 | 0.3 | 36.36 |
| 22 | Netherlands | 258.06 | 244.38 | -5.30 | 213.73 | 210.65 | -1.44 | 471.79 | 455.03 | -3.55 |
| 23 | Poland | 129.52 | 170.56 | 31.69 | 61.35 | 62.9 | 2.53 | 190.87 | 233.46 | 22.31 |
| 24 | Portugal | 12.93 | 15.72 | 21.58 | 30.38 | 29.74 | -2.11 | 43.31 | 45.46 | 4.96 |
| 25 | Romania | 2.74 | 2.62 | -4.38 | 9.97 | 9.98 | 0.10 | 12.71 | 12.6 | -0.87 |
| 26 | Sweden | 53.91 | 53.85 | -0.11 | 88.31 | 91.38 | 3.48 | 142.22 | 145.23 | 2.12 |
| 27 | Slovenia | 8.78 | 4.98 | -43.28 | 17.77 | 17.53 | -1.35 | 26.55 | 22.51 | -15.22 |
| 28 | Slovakia | 18.59 | 18.35 | -1.29 | 8.33 | 6.69 | -19.69 | 26.92 | 25.04 | -6.98 |
| Overall Exports | 3133.76 | 2942.24 | -6.11 | 3120.67 | 3047.76 | -2.34 | 6254.43 | 5990 | -4.23 | |
Table 1 (All figures are in US $ million)
Data Source: Department of Commerce, India
Compiled by: Apparel Resources
With export value over US $ 100 million, India recorded growth in only three EU countries out of 10 which indicated India’s export to EU is in a sorry state. These three countries are Poland, Denmark and Sweden. (Refer: Table 1)
Two EU countries imported apparels from India whose value was less than US $ 100 million but greater than US $ 50 million – Ireland and Czech Republic, out of which the latter saw growth. Five countries were there which imported apparels from India in the range of US $ 20 million to US $ 50 million, and of these 5 countries, only Portugal and Greece managed to grow.
Eleven EU countries imported apparels worth lower than US $ 20 million from India in 2019 and only three could grow, while remaining other eight countries massively made a dent on India’s export value. (Refer: Table 1)
On one hand where India is falling in its largest region-wise market, the compensation was made by the USA and some non-traditional countries where India marked decent growth. RMG export to the USA, the largest single export destination for India, surged 8.45 per cent and valued at US $ 4.34 billion. Japan and Australia marked consistent growth of 8.04 per cent and 18.28 per cent respectively to import apparels from India worth US $ 224.57 million and US $ 217.43 million.
Further, once a strong market for Indian RMG export, the UAE has continuously been plunging in its import from the country over the years. 2019 was no different as India’s RMG export to the UAE fell by 2.08 per cent on Y-o-Y basis and the value stood at US $ 1.86 billion. (Refer: Table 2)
| India’s Apparel Export to Traditional Countries | ||||||||||
| S. No. | Country Name | Knitted | Woven | Total (CY 2018) |
Total (CY 2019) |
% Change | ||||
| CY 2018 | CY 2019 | % Change | CY 2018 | CY 2019 | % Change | |||||
| 1 | USA | 1,848.39 | 2,046.04 | 10.69 | 2,156.36 | 2,297.24 | 6.53 | 4004.75 | 4343.28 | 8.45 |
| 2 | UAE | 1,095.68 | 1,126.24 | 2.79 | 804.66 | 734.48 | -8.72 | 1900.34 | 1860.72 | -2.08 |
Table 2 (All figures are in US $ million)
Data Source: Department of Commerce, India
Compiled by: Apparel Resources
Since 2020 has started on a negative note in view of COVID-19 crisis, declared pandemic by WHO, the apparel trade industry will further fall. The stores and malls are being shut temporarily by European brands, Japanese retailers as well as North American brands due to Coronavirus spread and the countries are taking precautionary measures in its industry. Supply chain is hurled and shipments are being put on hold by the buyers. So, situation is not at all looking positive for the apparel manufacturers based not just in India but other neighbouring countries too. Everybody is just in the wait and watch mode.
