ILO Asia-Pacific Garment and Footwear Sector Research Note Issue 1

Strong export and job growth in Asia's garment and footwear sector

This research note examines wages and working conditions in the garment sector in a range of countries in the Asia-Pacific region. It finds that developing countries in the Asia-Pacific region exported $601 billion worth of garments, footwear and textile products in 2014, three-fifths of the global total. More than 40 million workers are now employed in the sector in the Asia-Pacific region.

Developing Asia-Pacific's garment and footwear industry continued to perform well in 2014. Exports grew by 5.1 per cent in the past year and reached an astounding $601 billion, or three-fifths of the global total. The sector now employs more than 40 million workers. Despite some progress, however, productivity and wages remain low overall. in order to sustain growth, new drivers of competitiveness based on improved working conditions are needed.