According to The Japan Textiles Importers Association report on Japanese apparel imports, based on Ministry of Finance trade statistics, November 2017 apparel imports sharply increased by 17.0% over the same month of the previous year to 224,405 million yen. The import quantity rose by 7.3% to 293.89 million units.
The share of Chinese-made apparel in total imports decreased, while that of ASEAN increased.
Imports from China increased by 4.7% in quantity and 14.8% in value to 195.11 million units worth 140,657 million yen. China’s share in total Japanese apparel imports was 66.4% in quantity (down 1.7 percentage points) and 62.7% in value (down 1.2%).
Imports from ASEAN sharply rose by 16.7% and 24.9% respectively to 79.40 million units valued at 60,128 million yen. Imports of knitwear continued to increase at a remarkable rate from October, up 20.3% and 25.0% respectively to 54.49 million units valued at 29,871 million yen. Major garment-making countries such as Myanmar and Vietnam showed a prominent presence in Japanese apparel imports, and imports also increased from Indonesia. The share of ASEAN in total Japanese apparel imports was 27.0% in quantity (up 2.2 points) and 26.8% in value (up 1.7%).
Woven garments continued to lead imports from Turkey from October.