India’s apparel imports decline by 24% in FY’21

India’s apparel imports declined by 24 per cent to $881.08 million during FY’21 AS compared to $1.14 billion in FY’20, shows data on the Ministry of Commerce and Industry portal.

The data confirms to CMAI’s Mega Survey findings that estimated the domestic apparel retail industry shrank by around 20 per cent in FY ’21 with a total loss of Rs. 150,000 crore ($20.83 billion).

As per an Apparel Resources report, Of the total imports, the imports of knitted clothing valued fell by 21.05 per cent to $392.81 million while woven clothing import declined ng by 24.52 per cent valued US $ 488.27 million.

Though China remained the top import destination with imports worth $317.55 million coming from China, volume of imports from China declined by around 36 per cent.

In FY ’20, China constituted around 43 per cent of India’s total apparel import values which fell to 36 per cent in FY ’21 with most of these orders diverted to Bangladesh.

During the year, India’s sourcing from Bangladesh increased by 16.72 per cent to $ 272.60 million, while Spain shipped $76.49 million worth of garments to the Indian buyers.