According to The Japan Textiles Importers Association, the nation’s imports of apparel in March 2017 (based on Ministry of Finance trade statistics) increased by 9.1% in volume and 5.2% in value over the same month of last year to 381.29 million units worth 241,539 million yen.
March imports of knitwear grew by 6.7% and 4.5% respectively to 250.03 million units worth 113,677 million yen, and those of woven garments rose by 13.8% and 5.8% to 131.26 million units valued at 127,862 million yen.
Apparel imports from China increased by 9.6% and 4.9% respectively to 251.44 million units valued at 148,820 million yen. China’s share in total apparel imports was 65.9% in volume and 61.6% in value.
As for apparel imports from ASEAN, imports from Myanmar continued to grow sharply in March with the volume growing by 24.7% to 10.20 million units and the value by 33.7% to 7,859 million yen. Especially, knitwear imports from Myanmar rose by 66.6% and 58.0% respectively to 3.53 million units valued at 1,643 million yen.
Imports from Vietnam also increased sharply by 22.3% and 18.7% respectively to 38.70 million units worth 29,262 million yen. Imports of Vietnamese knitwear climbed 21.5% and 23.8% respectively to 24.67 million units valued at 12,260 million yen, and those of woven garments were up 23.6% and 15.4% respectively to 14.03 million units worth 17,002 million yen.
The share of ASEAN in total apparel imports was 24.2% in quantity and 26.2% in value.
Apparel imports including accessories rose by 6.7% and 5.4% respectively to 89,760 tons valued at 276.0 billion yen. The aggregate for the first three months decreased by 0.5% and 3.0% respectively year-on-year to 238,657 tons worth 756.6 billion yen.