42 Clothing Statistics in 2026

September 28, 2026

The latest numbers on the clothing industry: how big the market is, who buys, how they shop, what clothes cost, and where all that clothing ends up.

Every statistic links to its source, and nothing here is older than 2023.

Key statistics

The global apparel market is projected to reach $1.92 trillion in revenue in 2026, up 2.7% on the year before (Statista Market Insights, 2026)
The average US household spent $2,001 on apparel and services in 2024 (US Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2024)
43% of American consumers buy clothing online, versus 34% for shoes and 19% for accessories (Capital One Shopping Research, 2026)
The global resale apparel market grew 17.6% to $204.7 billion in 2024 (GlobalData, 2025)
About 85% of household textile waste in the EU was not collected separately in 2022 and ended up in mixed waste (European Environment Agency, 2024)

The global apparel market is valued at $1.44 trillion in 2026 and forecast to reach $1.68 trillion by 2031, a 3.12% yearly growth rate (Mordor Intelligence, 2026)
The US apparel market reached about $359 billion in 2024 (Statista, 2024)
The US is expected to generate the most apparel revenue of any country in 2026, at an estimated $373 billion (Statista Market Insights, 2026)
Women's apparel makes up 51.92% of the global apparel market (Mordor Intelligence, 2026)
US textile and apparel imports rose 182% between 2000 and 2023 (US Government Accountability Office, 2025)

The global online apparel market is valued at $779.30 billion in 2025 (Precedence Research, 2025)
The US online apparel market is valued at $185.47 billion in 2025 (Precedence Research, 2025)
North America holds 34% of the global online apparel market, the largest share of any region (Precedence Research, 2025)
25.5% of global fashion retail sales are made online (Capital One Shopping Research, 2026)
Physical stores still hold 69.95% of apparel sales, while online is the fastest-growing channel at 4.62% a year (Mordor Intelligence, 2026)
The average clothing item bought online costs $66.58 (Capital One Shopping Research, 2026)

Apparel and services made up 2.5% of total US household spending in 2024 (US Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2024)
The average US household spent $655 on women's clothing and $406 on men's clothing in 2023 (US Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2025)
The average US household spent $208 on women's footwear and $147 on men's footwear in 2023 (US Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2025)
US Gen Z consumers spent about $1,660 a year on apparel and services in 2024 (Statista, 2024)
People aged 25 to 34 are the largest single age group of online clothing shoppers, at 27.6% (Capital One Shopping Research, 2026)
Women make up 58.2% of US mobile clothing shoppers (Capital One Shopping Research, 2026)

US apparel prices rose 0.6% from December 2024 to December 2025, slower than the 1.2% rise the year before (US Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2026)
US apparel prices in 2024 were about the same as in 1994, but about 5 times higher than in 1924 (US Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2025)
Worldwide, people are expected to spend $243.39 each on apparel in 2026 and buy 24.1 pieces on average (Statista Market Insights, 2026)

US retailers expect $849.9 billion in total merchandise returns in 2025 (National Retail Federation, 2025)
An estimated 19.3% of US online sales will be returned in 2025 (National Retail Federation, 2025)
US retail returns totaled $890 billion in 2024, a return rate of 16.9% (National Retail Federation, 2024)

The EU generated about 6.94 million tonnes of textile waste in 2022, or 16kg per person (European Environment Agency, 2024)
Textile consumption in the EU reached 19kg per person in 2022, up from 17kg in 2019 (European Environment Agency, 2024)
The share of EU textile waste sent to landfill fell from 21% in 2010 to 12% in 2022, while incineration rose from 10% to 14% (European Environment Agency, 2024)
An estimated 4 to 9% of all textile products sold in Europe are destroyed before they are ever used, 264,000 to 594,000 tonnes a year (European Environment Agency, 2024)
Of the 19kg of textiles each person in the EU bought in 2022, 8kg was clothing, 7kg household textiles and 4kg footwear (European Environment Agency, 2024)
About 60% of textiles contain microplastics (US Government Accountability Office, 2025)

The US secondhand apparel market grew 14% in 2024, 5 times faster than the wider clothing market (ThredUp Resale Report, 2025)
The global secondhand apparel market is forecast to reach $367 billion by 2029, growing 10% a year (ThredUp Resale Report, 2025)
The resale apparel market is projected to grow 13.3% in 2025 and 11.4% a year through 2028 (GlobalData, 2025)
Sales on Vinted grew 47% to €10.8 billion in 2025 (Vinted, 2025)
Vinted's revenue reached €1.1 billion in 2025, up 38% on the year before (Vinted, 2025)
The global apparel rental market is forecast to grow 101.2% between 2022 and 2026, to $9.9 billion (GlobalData, 2023)

82% of fashion shoppers want AI to cut the time they spend researching what to buy (McKinsey and BoF State of Fashion via Fashion Dive, 2025)
50% of fashion executives name product discovery as the main use of generative AI in 2025 (McKinsey and BoF State of Fashion via Fashion Dive, 2025)

Clothing prices have barely moved in 30 years (US Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2025), so quality, not price, is what separates a good buy from a bad one.
Returns are a big hidden cost. Check the size guide and fabric before you order.
Most clothing never gets recycled. Pieces you wear for years, like a plain white cotton tee or classic straight-leg jeans, are the lowest-waste choice.
Secondhand is growing fast. Buying well the first time means your clothes still have value when you are done with them.
Browse the full collection with fewer, better basics in mind.