Trade flows

Who buys and who sells clothing

Knitted and woven clothing, the whole of HS 61 and HS 62, counted at the border by each country's own customs service and reported to the United Nations. It answers the question behind every sourcing decision: who has this to sell, who is buying it, and which way the trade is moving.

Read the year column first. The biggest seller is at the top and the rest follow in order of sales. Countries do not report at the same speed, so each row sits at the newest year that country has filed for both directions, and two rows are only comparable when their years match. The last column compares each country's sales with its own previous year, which for most rows here is 2024. The European Union reports as a single bloc, so its row is the 27 member states combined. Figures are the value declared at the border, so they include the goods and the cost of getting them there but not duty paid on the far side. Reported nothing: Bangladesh. That is a gap in the United Nations record, not a country that stopped trading, and we would rather name it than fill it with a guess.

UN Comtrade data, copyright United Nations. Values here are our own totals and percentages worked out from it, not the published figures themselves. Read on 14 October 2026. Check knitted clothing at the UN (opens in a new tab) Check woven clothing at the UN (opens in a new tab)

Who Pakistan, India and Bangladesh trade clothing with

The table above says how much. This says to whom and from whom: the 10 largest customers and the 10 largest suppliers of each of the three countries this desk sources from, with a row for everyone else so the 10 are seen against the whole. Same file, same year, same headings.

Pakistan, 2025

India, 2025

Bangladesh, 2025, counted by its partners

Read the share against the whole. For Pakistan and India the share is of that country's own world total for the year, the 10 named are its largest partners, and everyone else is the rest of the world added together. Values are what the country declared at its own border, the goods and the cost of getting them there, before duty on the far side. The European Union is one partner of 27 states. A partner under $0.1M is shown in words rather than as a misleading zero.

Bangladesh is counted by its partners. Bangladesh has filed nothing with the United Nations since 2018, so its tables can only show the partners that were asked about it: its sales are what United States, European Union, United Kingdom, Japan, Canada and Australia filed as bought from it, and its purchases are what India, United States, Pakistan, European Union, Brazil and Australia filed as sold to it. The shares are of that counted sum, not of the world, so every other customer and supplier is missing and the true figures are higher on both sides. A value counted at the far end of the voyage includes freight and insurance the exporter never saw .

UN Comtrade data, copyright United Nations. Values here are our own roundings, shares and subtractions worked out from it, not the published figures themselves. Read on 14 October 2026. Check at the UN, one heading per link, every partner shown: 61 (opens in a new tab), 62 (opens in a new tab). The Bangladesh tables are not in those links; to check them, open the same query with the partners named above as the reporters.

Clothing, product by product

The table above adds customs headings together because a first reading needs the shape before the detail. These take them apart: one table per heading, the same countries, the same years, so a buyer costing towels reads bed and bath linen on its own and a spinner selling into Bangladesh reads cotton yarn apart from synthetic. Pakistan, India and Bangladesh are the first three rows of every table; the rest follow by sales, biggest first.

Knitted clothing, HS 61

The whole of chapter 61: T-shirts, polos, sweatshirts, knitted underwear and hosiery.

Woven clothing, HS 62

The whole of chapter 62: shirts, trousers, denim, jackets and dresses.

Read the year column first. Countries do not report at the same speed, so each row sits at the newest year that country has filed for both directions, and two rows are only comparable when their years match. The last column compares each country's sales with its own previous year. A dash means the country filed nothing under that heading for that year, which for a small heading can be a classification choice as much as a real zero. The European Union reports as one bloc of 27 states. Figures are the value declared at the border, the goods and the cost of getting them there, before duty on the far side. Where sales were under $0.1M in either year the change is not shown, because a few containers can double a tiny number.

Bangladesh is the mirror row. Bangladesh has filed nothing with the United Nations since 2018, so its row is what its trading partners filed about it in their own 2025 returns. Sales out of Bangladesh are what United States, European Union, United Kingdom, Japan, Canada and Australia say they bought from it. Purchases into Bangladesh are what India, United States, Pakistan, European Union, Brazil and Australia say they sold to it. Benin and Mali were asked as well and had filed nothing for 2025, so they are not in that sum. Every other customer and supplier is left out, so the true figures are higher on both sides, and a value counted at the far end of the voyage includes freight and insurance the exporter never saw. Its change on the year sets the same partners against what they filed for 2024. China is not in that sum because its newest return is for 2025, a different year; on it China sold Bangladesh $46M of knitted clothing and $101M of woven clothing.

UN Comtrade data, copyright United Nations. Values here are our own totals, roundings and percentages worked out from it, not the published figures themselves. Read on 14 October 2026. Check HS 61 at the UN (opens in a new tab) Check HS 62 at the UN (opens in a new tab) The Bangladesh row is not in those links, which ask for world totals; to check it, open the same query with its partners as the reporters and Bangladesh as the partner.

India, month by month

The tables above are whole years. This is the last twelve months India has filed, August 2025 to July 2026, for knitted clothing, woven clothing and clothing as a whole: sold out and bought in, month by month. India is the one of the three that files monthly and quickly, so it is the freshest reading of the season and the direction of the market that the same source can give.

The window rolls. It is the twelve newest months India had filed when this was read on 14 October 2026, August 2025 to July 2026. August 2026 had not been filed by then, so the window stops at July 2026 rather than drawing a missing month as a zero. Values are what India declared at its own border, the goods and the cost of getting them there, before duty on the far side. Read it for direction and season, not for a single month: a month is a few hundred ships, a large order landing on one side of a month end or the other moves it, and a customs return can be revised after it is first filed. A dash means nothing was filed under that heading for the month.

UN Comtrade data, copyright United Nations. Values here are our own roundings of it, not the published figures themselves. Read on 14 October 2026. Check July 2026 at the UN, one heading per link. Clothing: 61 (opens in a new tab), 62 (opens in a new tab).