The Fashion and Textile Industry in Data
26-01-2025
Are you writing a business plan…then you need market statistics!
FashionCapital CEO Jenny Holloway comments: “During my career I have had to write various business plans and invariably it’s for a loan agreement with a bank, or creating a bid for organisations such as Innovate UK. As part of this process you will always need to start with current data on the worth of the market and then hone into specifics. Below are some generic socio economic variables to help you on your way! Remember FashionCapital is here to support your brand journey!”
According to https://ukft.org/ the UK fashion and textile industry in 2021 was a significant contributor to the economy and employment.
Here are some key points:
Employment in Creating and Making Sub-Sectors:
– Fashion and textile product manufacturing: 75,000 jobs
– Product development and design: 29,000 jobs
– Fibres, textile, and leather manufacturing: 19,000 jobs
– Growing of fibre crops: 2,600 jobs
– Fashion and textile education: 1,500 jobs
– Textile machinery manufacturing: 1,300 jobs
In total, there were 260,000 jobs in the creating and making sector.
Demographics:
– Under 25s: 197,000 jobs
– Over 65s: 52,000 jobs
– Women: 540,000 jobs
Industry Challenges and Potential:
– Barriers to export and skills, and workforce and skills shortages are the biggest impediments for businesses.
– The industry could support an additional 98,000 jobs if these barriers were removed.
Economic Contribution:
– The fashion and textile industry contributed an estimated £62 billion in gross value added to the GDP.
– The industry supported 1.3 million jobs, which is one in every 25 jobs in the UK.
Education:
– Total learners completing qualifications (Level 1-5) in 2021: 10,373
– Level 1: 462 completions
– Level 2: 7,743 completions
– Level 3: 1,688 completions
– Level 4: 304 completions
– Level 5: 176 completions
Between 2021 and 2023, there was an 80% increase in Level 1 completions.
– Total AVQ completions (Levels 1-5): 32,155 (4,772 of which were in Scotland)
This latest data highlights the significant role of the fashion and textile industry in the UK economy and the importance of addressing workforce and skills shortages to unlock further potential.
Thanks to the UKFT for providing the latest industry data.
