Executive Summary
The apparent UK market for clothing was worth an estimated £12.32bn at manufacturers' selling prices (msp) in 2005, up 2.7% on 2004 and 0.4% higher than in 2001. The market value still remains below levels recorded in 2002 and 2003.
The market can be broken down into the two main sectors of menswear (including clothes for boys) and womenswear (including girlswear). A small market also exists for clothing accessories. In fact, in terms of household expenditure, clothing accessories were one of the strongest growing sectors between 2001 and 2005.
The world clothing and textile market has been regulated for over 40 years by a series of agreements that restrict access to certain markets. This situation changed on 1st January 2005, when the quota system was removed and the industry became subject to the liberalisation rules of GATT. The People's Republic of China was one of the countries most affected by the quota system, and the most immediate effect of its removal was a huge surge in clothing exports from the People's Republic of China to the EU and North America. The abolition of the quota agreement is expected to affect UK clothing manufacturers in different ways, with those that serve niche markets least likely to be affected by the abolition. Conversely, those most vulnerable to the quota abolition are companies that produce items that can be mass produced in a lower-waged, lower-skilled environment.
The UK clothing manufacturing market remains under intense pressure from these low-cost imports, especially those of mass-market items. Plant closures, sector rationalisations, falling employment levels and company disposals remain features of the market. These factors, together with rising production costs and price pressures, have resulted in many of the leading manufacturers reporting pre-tax losses in their latest financial year. However, the situation is not completely negative, with some specialised sectors of the market experiencing stability or even growth.
The apparent UK market for clothing is expected to increase slowly but steadily up to 2010. However, UK manufacturers' sales are forecast to continue falling and all of the increase will be met by higher levels of imports (with imports from the People's Republic of China likely to account for a large proportion of this rise). UK exports of clothing are forecast to show some modest increase up to 2010, with added-value, high-technology items remaining popular in overseas markets.
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