Market evolution: Foundation garments (CN 6212) — 2015–2025

Introduction

This report examines the EU's external trade in foundation garments (customs code 6212) over the 2015–2025 period. The product group covers brassieres, girdles, corsets, braces, suspenders, garters, and related articles made from all types of textile materials, excluding rubber-only belts and corselets. The analysis draws on annual trade data between the European Union and non-EU countries, covering values (EUR), quantities (tonnes and supplementary unit counts), and derived prices. The decade reveals a market undergoing profound structural transformation: domestic EU production has collapsed, import reliance has tripled, supply chains have diversified away from China toward South and Southeast Asia, and the trade deficit has widened significantly. Three major dynamics emerge from the data and are explored in the sections below.

I. The collapse of European production and the surge of import dependence

The most striking structural shift over the 2015–2025 decade is the near-disappearance of EU-based manufacturing of foundation garments, replaced by an ever-growing reliance on imports.

EU production fell by over 80% in both volume and value

EU production of CN 6212 products fell from 256 million items in 2015 to just 46 million items in 2025, a decline of 82%. In value terms, production dropped from €1.55 billion to €337 million (–78.3%). This collapse was already well advanced by the early years of the period and accelerated through the 2020s. The data points to a near-complete offshoring of the EU's foundation-garment manufacturing base over the decade (Production volumes).

Net import reliance more than tripled

As domestic production collapsed, the EU's net import reliance surged from 24.1% in 2015 to 79.5% in 2025 — a 230% increase. This means that by 2025, roughly four out of every five euros spent on foundation garments in the EU were satisfied by non-EU suppliers. The shift was not linear; import reliance rose steadily through the late 2010s and then jumped sharply during the COVID-19 years, stabilising at an elevated plateau of around 78–81% from 2022 onward.

The import bill grew modestly while export revenues declined

Total imports rose from €1.71 billion (2015) to €1.82 billion (2025), a 6.5% increase in value, while import volumes grew 17.3% (from 44,568 t to 52,268 t). Over the same period, exports fell from €469 million to €422 million (–10.0%) and export volumes dropped 25.4% (from 6,143 t to 4,581 t). The trade deficit thus widened from –€1.24 billion to –€1.39 billion. The divergence between the modest growth in import value and the sharper growth in import volume points to declining unit import prices: the average import price fell 9.2% over the decade, from €38,258/t to €34,727/t. By contrast, export prices rose 20.6%, suggesting the EU's remaining exports have shifted toward higher-value or niche segments (General trade overview).

II. A quiet revolution in sourcing: from China-centric to a diversified Asian supply base

The second major dynamic is a structural rebalancing of the EU's import sources. While China remains the single largest supplier, its share has eroded significantly, and several South and Southeast Asian countries have emerged as fast-growing alternatives.

China's dominance is declining but remains substantial

China was the EU's top import partner throughout the period, but its share shrank meaningfully. Chinese imports fell from €858 million (2015) to €706 million (2025), a decline of 17.7%. The import concentration Herfindahl–Hirschman Index (HHI) for partners fell from 2,750 to 2,041 (–25.8%), confirming a meaningful diversification of supply (Concentration). An HHI of 2,041 still indicates a moderately concentrated import market, but the downward trend is clear.

Bangladesh, Vietnam, and Myanmar are the fastest-growing suppliers

Three Asian countries stand out for their rapid growth as EU suppliers:

Bangladesh's import value more than doubled, and Vietnam's more than tripled, while Myanmar's nearly quadrupled. These shifts are consistent with broader patterns in the global apparel industry, where rising labour costs in China, preferential trade access (e.g., Everything But Arms for Bangladesh and Myanmar), and "China Plus One" sourcing strategies have redirected investment toward lower-cost Asian producers (Partners).

Brexit visibly disrupted UK trade flows in both directions

The United Kingdom's trade with the EU in CN 6212 collapsed after Brexit. UK imports into the EU fell from €72 million to €19.3 million (–73.2%), while EU exports to the UK fell from €90.5 million to €45.5 million (–49.7%). The UK's share in EU exports also dropped sharply. The volatility coefficient for UK export flows was the highest of any partner at 0.51, reflecting pronounced instability. Notably, a major price shock was detected in EU–UK trade in 2018 (abnormality score 82.8, a 26.3% price drop) and again in 2023 for imports from the UK (abnormality 63.6, a 157.2% price spike), suggesting significant disruption in trade patterns around the Brexit transition (Supply shocks).

Brassieres dominate both imports and exports at the product level

Breaking down by sub-product, brassieres (CN 621210) account for the vast majority of trade. In 2025, brassieres represented €1.65 billion of imports (91% of total CN 6212 imports by value) and €367 million of exports (87% of total). Girdles and panty girdles (CN 621220) and corselettes (CN 621230) are much smaller categories. The supplementary unit data (number of items) shows that approximately 462 million brassiere units were imported in 2025, at an average price of €3.55 per piece, while 382 million units were exported at €9.61 per piece — reflecting the EU's role as a re-exporter of higher-value items and as an assembler or finisher of imported components (Product comparison).

III. A fragmented European landscape: divergent national trajectories in production, exports, and specialisation

The EU is not a monolithic actor in the foundation-garment market. Member states display highly divergent trajectories in terms of exports, specialisation, and vulnerability to shocks.

Germany, Italy, and Poland are emerging as the EU's export hubs

Among EU exporters, three countries stand out for growth:

By contrast, France's exports collapsed from €145 million to just €32 million (–77.9%), and Austria's fell 34%. The shift suggests a concentration of remaining European production capacity in Germany and Italy (both with established textile traditions and proximity to design centres) and in Poland, which benefits from lower labour costs within the EU and growing manufacturing capacity (Reporters).

Specialisation patterns reveal a niche Central European advantage

Revealed symmetric comparative advantage (RSCA) data for 2025 shows that Croatia, Austria, Estonia, Latvia, and Poland are the most specialised EU exporters of CN 6212 products relative to their overall trade profiles. Croatia's RSCA of 0.79 and Austria's of 0.53 indicate significant competitive niches, though their absolute share of total EU exports remains small. At the other extreme, Ireland, Malta, Finland, and Cyprus show very low or negative specialisation, consistent with their lack of a textile manufacturing base. The picture that emerges is one where foundation-garment production in the EU has become a concentrated, niche activity rather than a broadly distributed industry (Specialisation).

The export market for EU producers is stable but less diversified than imports

While import concentration declined over the period (HHI from 2,750 to 2,041), export concentration edged upward (HHI from 980 to 1,086). This reflects the growing importance of a handful of non-EU export destinations — notably Switzerland (up 42.2% to €102M), Türkiye (up 84.9% to €29.2M), and Russia (relatively stable at €59.9M). The United States, once a significant market, saw EU exports fall 34.8% to €29.5M. The concentration increase in exports, though modest, suggests that EU-based producers are increasingly dependent on a smaller set of high-value nearby markets (Volatility).

Conclusion

The EU market for foundation garments (CN 6212) has undergone a fundamental transformation between 2015 and 2025. Domestic production has all but collapsed, declining by over 80% in both volume and value, pushing the EU's net import reliance from roughly one-quarter to nearly 80% of consumption. The supply chain has quietly diversified: while China remains the largest single source, its share is eroding, and Bangladesh, Vietnam, and Myanmar have rapidly gained ground as the EU's apparel import base shifts south and east within Asia. Brexit has materially disrupted UK–EU trade flows in both directions, removing what was once a significant bilateral trade channel. Within the EU itself, the export landscape has narrowed and concentrated: France has exited its former role as a major exporter, while Germany, Italy, and Poland have consolidated their positions as the bloc's remaining export hubs. The overall picture is one of a market that is heavily import-dependent, increasingly reliant on a diversified but geographically distant Asian supply base, and served domestically by a small number of specialised European producers operating in high-value niches. These structural trends carry implications for supply-chain resilience, trade policy, and the future of the EU's textile industry.