According to The Japan Textiles Importers Association report on apparel imports based on Ministry of Finance statistics, October imports fell 10.4% in volume and 25.1% in value from the year before to 262.59 million units worth 199,087 million yen.
Itemwise, imports of woven garments dropped 11.9% and 25.3% respectively to 82,85 million units worth 100,326 million yen, and those of knitwear declined by 9.6% and 25.0% respectively to 179.74 million units valued at 98,761 million yen.
Apparel imports from China dropped 15.0% and 29.0% respectively to 182.08 million units valued at 132,509 million yen. The share of China in apparel imports decreased to 69.3% in volume (down 3.8 percentage points) and 66.6% in value (down 3.6 points).
Imports from ASEAN decreased by 0.2% and 11.8% respectively to 61,860 million units valued at 47,678 million yen. It is the first time this year that the import volume from ASEAN decreased. Imports from Myanmar and Cambodia continued to increase supported by knitwear.
January-October apparel imports including accessories rose 0.3% in volume year-on-year to 840,183 tons, while the value dropped 12.1% to 2,457.2 billion yen.