The range of clothing in Germany increased in 2024 compared to the previous year. According to calculations published on Thursday by the Textile Shoes Leather Goods Trade Association (BTE), the so-called domestic availability was almost 4.08 billion items of clothing. This corresponds to an increase of around 480 million parts compared to 2023.
This means that the supply is moving up again, but remains below the level of 2022, when a significantly higher value of 4.46 billion parts was recorded. Domestic production, which is of little importance due to its small size in Germany, was not taken into account in the calculations.
49 new items of clothing per capita
Statistically, in 2024 each of Germany’s approximately 83.5 million inhabitants had around 49 new items of clothing available to them. Two years previously this value was around 53 parts per capita. Shoes, leather clothing and purchases by tourists, cross-border commuters and direct importers via platforms such as Shein or Temu are not included in the figures.
The majority of the offer again consisted of so-called small items such as hosiery, underwear, T-shirts, hats and scarves. In total, around 2.5 billion such items were recorded, which corresponds to around 30 items per person. Small parts make up around 61.9 percent of the total offering. This product group is often subject to faster wear and tear or is regularly replaced for hygiene reasons.
The remaining 38.1 percent of the offering is made up of large items such as jackets, trousers, sweaters or shirts. This corresponds to around 19 items of clothing per person. For jackets, coats and anoraks, domestic availability was around 132 million pieces, which mathematically works out to 1.6 pieces per person. Around 333 million items were recorded for sweaters and cardigans (4.0 per person), and 186 million for blouses and shirts (2.2 per person). With these items, wear and changes in size, especially in the children’s area, also lead to the need for replacement on a regular basis.