98.6% of Clothing in Japan Is Imported | What a 1.4% Domestic Share Means

If you turn over a few labels on the clothes in your closet, most of the country-of-origin labels will show overseas production. The numbers that back up this impression come from the “Overview of the Japanese Apparel Market and Imports,” compiled annually by the Japan Textiles Importers Association. From the 2025 edition, which covers 2024 results, we can read the shape of Japan’s clothing supply.

Of 3.5 billion items, 3.4 billion are imports

The number of clothing items supplied domestically in 2024 was 3,512.04 million, down 1.1% from the previous year. According to the association, this was the lowest level in 20 years. Of these, imports accounted for 3,461.93 million items, down 1.0% year on year, while clothing produced domestically totaled 60.01 million items, down 6.6%.

On an item-count basis, the import penetration rate was 98.6%. Put another way, only about 1 to 2 garments out of every 100 are made in Japan. China was the largest source of imports, with 1,928.21 million items, accounting for about 56% of all imported products.

In 1990, half was domestically made

Looking at the change in the domestic production ratio in the same statistics, it was 50.1% in 1990. It continued to fall to 14.5% in 2000, 4.0% in 2010, 2.0% in 2020, and 1.5% in 2023, reaching 1.4% in 2024. Domestic clothing production fell from 551.59 million items in 2000 to 60.01 million items in 2024, roughly one-ninth of the earlier level.

Materials from the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry point out that, in addition to the shift toward outsourcing production to overseas factories in China and elsewhere in order to mass-produce low-priced clothing, the aging of people working in domestic factories is making it increasingly difficult to maintain the domestic supply chain itself. The import penetration rate by value is lower than the rate by volume, and the ministry’s materials put it at 74.5% in 2021. This suggests that for higher-priced clothing, a certain share is still made domestically.

Key numbers
Japan’s domestic clothing supply in 2024 was 3,512.04 million items. Of these, imports accounted for 98.6%, while domestic production was 60.01 million items, or 1.4%. The domestic production ratio has fallen sharply from 50.1% in 1990 over a little more than a quarter century.

Another point not to overlook is that the supply volume itself is declining. As for where clothing goes after it is let go, a survey finding that 64% of clothing that is let go is discarded also covered this. “Where it was made” and “what happens to it afterward” are questions at opposite ends of a single garment.

Reference: Japan Textiles Importers Association, “Japan’s Apparel Market and Overview of Imported Goods 2025”; Lifestyle Products Division, Manufacturing Industries Bureau, Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry

—The Value Village Editorial Team