The penetration rate of imports into the Japanese apparel market (quantitative basis) increased by 0.2 percentage points in 2019 over the previous year to 98.0%.
Although the import quantity decreased by 1.8%, Japanese apparel production fell 8.6% to less than 90 million units.
The domestic supply volume, which is obtained by adding imports (3,906 million units) to domestic production (87 million units) and then subtracting exports (9 million units), decreased by 0.2% to 3,984 million units.
The import penetration rate of apparel (woven and knitted outerwear and underwear) is calculated every year by The Japan Textiles Importers Association based on the production statistics released from the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry and trade statistics from the Ministry of Finance. The penetration rate was 51.8% in 1991, but because apparel production rapidly shifted abroad, the rate surpassed 60% in 1993, 70% in 1995, 80% in 2000 and 90% in 2003. Since then, the rate has been rising gradually.
On a value basis, the apparel import penetration rate was 77.8% in 2017, and continued to rise at gradual rates.
