Textile and Ready-to-Wear Sector in Turkey

Textile and ready-made clothing sector in Turkey started to grow rapidly with the export-oriented development policy put into practice in 1980 and investments in the sector have increased since then. When the textile and ready-to-wear sectors are evaluated together, it is one of the most important macro-economic indicators of Turkey in terms of gross domestic product, share in manufacturing industry and industrial production, exports, net foreign currency input to the economy, employment and investment.
one of its sectors. Today, the Turkish textile and apparel industry is largely an export-oriented industry. Existing capacities are considerably higher than domestic demand.
The Turkish ready-to-wear sector is the 6th largest ready-made garment exporter in the world with a 4% share as of 2022. In the export of ready-made clothing to EU countries, our country ranks 3rd after China and Bangladesh. Today, the ready-made clothing industry is one of the locomotive sectors of our country's economy with its great weight in production and employment.

Most of the enterprises operating in the sectors are small and medium-sized enterprises. According to the statistics of the Social Security Institution for the period of December 2022, there are approximately 77,946 companies operating in the clothing manufacturing, textile and leather sectors throughout Turkey. Approximately 1,548,649 registered people are employed in these companies.

Cotton products constitute a large part of the ready-made clothing products produced in Turkey. While the industry's need for raw materials and intermediate goods such as cotton, wool, yarn and fabric is mostly met domestically, a significant amount of imports is also carried out. Although Turkey is the world's 7th largest cotton producer in the 2021/22 season, domestic production does not meet the domestic demand. Our country ranks 5th in world cotton consumption and imports.

The main advantages of the sector can be listed as fast delivery, proximity to target markets, technical, social and administrative knowledge, experience, wide product range and design capacity. Large companies in the ready-made clothing industry have recently concentrated on retailing in the country and abroad. The Turkish ready-to-wear industry has a flexible production structure and has become a position to produce fashionable products with high added value by adapting to changing fashion trends.

In the world, especially in developed countries, environmental, quality, health, etc. As a result of the developments in the fields, various regulations and applications are made regarding these issues. Today, as a result of the developments in the environment and health in the EU, which is our most important market in ready-made clothing, the EU environmental label has been developed for t-shirts as well as many products. In recent years, our companies have been following these developments closely and showing an increasing interest in environmental labels. Accordingly, the number of companies operating in accordance with quality management systems is increasing rapidly.