Market evolution: Knitted fabrics (CN 6006) — 2015–2025

Introduction

This report examines the EU's external trade in knitted fabrics under customs code 6006 over the period 2015–2025. CN 6006 is a residual heading covering knitted or crocheted fabrics of a width exceeding 30 cm, excluding warp knits, elastomeric fabrics, pile fabrics, and coated/laminated goods. It encompasses sub-segments ranging from wool (600610) to cotton (600621–600624), synthetic fibres (600631–600634), and artificial fibres (600641–600644).

Over the decade under review, the EU's trade in these fabrics has undergone significant structural change. While headline trade values have remained broadly stable, the underlying volumes tell a story of contraction, rising unit values, and a reshaping of trade geography. The EU has moved from a modest trade deficit toward a closer balance, with import volumes declining faster than export volumes. At the same time, domestic production has contracted substantially. This report identifies and interprets three main dynamics that have shaped the market over this period.

For a complete overview of the data, see the general overview dashboard.

1. Volume Contraction Offset by Steep Unit-Value Increases

The overall trade picture reveals falling volumes paired with rising prices

The most striking structural feature of the EU's trade in CN 6006 is the divergence between physical volumes and monetary values. Between 2015 and 2025, import volumes fell by 8.9% (from 133,597 t to 121,672 t), while export volumes fell by 4.5% (from 48,832 t to 46,617 t). Despite these declines, the total value of imports only decreased by 4.2% (from €644.8 M to €617.4 M), and export values actually edged up by 0.4% (from €567.9 M to €570.1 M). This pattern points to a sustained increase in unit values across both trade flows.

Unit values for EU exports are roughly double those of imports, reflecting the EU's positioning in higher-value-added segments of the knitted fabric chain. The convergence of both import and export unit-value increases at exactly +5.1% over the decade is notable and suggests that global cost pressures — raw materials, energy, and logistics — have transmitted symmetrically through both trade flows.

The 2020–2022 period stands out as a period of acute volatility

The data reveals a pronounced cycle around the COVID-19 pandemic and its aftermath. Import volumes peaked at 162,404 t before declining to their lowest point of 121,672 t — a drop of 25.1% from the peak. Export volumes peaked even earlier at 74,635 t and subsequently fell by 37.5%. The pandemic year of 2020 saw a sharp contraction, but the most dramatic shift was the 2021–2022 period, when import values surged to their maximum of €935.0 M even as volumes had already begun to decline. This suggests a period of significant price inflation, likely driven by post-pandemic supply chain disruptions, elevated shipping costs, and raw material price spikes. By 2023–2025, both volumes and prices had corrected downward, though prices remained above pre-pandemic levels.

The synthetic fibre segment absorbed the largest volume decline

At the product-segment level, the contraction is concentrated in dyed synthetic fabrics (CN 600632), the single largest import sub-heading. Import volumes in this segment fell from 54,298 t in 2015 to 42,381 t in 2025, a decline of 22.0%. Its import value dropped from €216.2 M to €173.1 M. Conversely, the unbleached or bleached synthetic fabrics segment (CN 600631) more than doubled in import volume, rising from 10,973 t to 23,571 t (+114.8%), with its value growing from €50.0 M to €88.6 M. This divergence suggests a shift toward sourcing unfinished synthetic knitted fabrics for further processing within the EU, rather than importing fully finished (dyed) goods.

On the export side, dyed synthetic fabrics (CN 600632) remained the largest segment by value (€136.7 M in 2025), though its export volume declined from a peak of 26,798 t in 2021 to 12,728 t in 2025. Meanwhile, dyed cotton fabrics (CN 600622) proved more resilient, with export volumes rising from 9,673 t to 11,336 t and value increasing from €90.5 M to €103.8 M, suggesting sustained external demand for EU-origin cotton knits.

Full segment-level breakdowns are available in the product comparison dashboard.

2. Geographic Reorientation: From Traditional to Nearshore and Emerging Partners

Türkiye remains the dominant import supplier but is losing share

The EU's import geography for CN 6006 has shifted considerably. Türkiye, historically the largest supplier, saw its share erode: import values fell from €312.2 M in 2015 to €281.3 M in 2025 (−9.9%). China, the second-largest supplier, moved in the opposite direction — its imports grew from €187.3 M to €220.6 M (+17.7%), narrowing the gap with Türkiye. The combined share of these two partners in EU imports remains substantial, but the relative weight has tilted toward China.

The most dramatic shifts involve three partners. The United Kingdom, which was the fifth-largest import source in 2015 at €35.9 M, collapsed to €7.5 M by 2025 (−79.2%) — a clear and quantifiable Brexit effect, as trade barriers and rules-of-origin requirements disrupted previously frictionless textile flows. Korea, Republic of declined by 76.0% (from €43.5 M to €10.4 M), likely reflecting the relocation of Korean textile manufacturing to Southeast Asia and the maturation of the EU-Korea FTA, which may have reoriented sourcing patterns.

New suppliers have emerged rapidly

At the other end of the spectrum, Uzbekistan grew from virtually zero (€0.05 M) to €8.9 M, an increase of nearly 20,000%. This remarkable growth reflects Uzbekistan's liberalisation of its cotton and textile sector since 2017 and its efforts to integrate into European supply chains. Egypt similarly more than doubled its exports to the EU (from €3.8 M to €9.6 M, +149.2%), benefiting from EU-Egypt preferential trade arrangements and competitive labour costs.

EU exports concentrate on Mediterranean and nearshore partners

On the export side, the EU's outbound trade in knitted fabrics is heavily oriented toward its nearshore manufacturing partners — countries that import EU fabrics for garment assembly and re-export.

Morocco and Tunisia together accounted for nearly half of the EU's total exports in 2025 (€283.1 M out of €570.1 M), and both grew over the period. This reflects the well-established "outward processing" model, where EU-origin fabrics are shipped to North African countries for cutting, making-up, and trimming (CMT), and the finished garments are then re-imported into the EU under preferential rules of origin.

The United Kingdom experienced a similar collapse in export demand as it did on the import side: EU exports to the UK fell from €28.1 M to €11.5 M (−59.1%), reinforcing the picture of post-Brexit trade diversion. The United States also declined sharply (−50.9%), possibly reflecting competition from Asian suppliers and shifting sourcing strategies among US apparel brands.

These geographic dynamics can be further explored via the partner-level dashboard.

3. Improving Trade Balance Amid a Shrinking Domestic Production Base

The EU's trade deficit in knitted fabrics has narrowed significantly

The EU ran a trade deficit in CN 6006 throughout the period, but the gap has narrowed substantially. In 2015, the deficit stood at €76.8 M; by 2025, it had shrunk to €47.3 M, an improvement of 38.4%. At its narrowest point, the deficit was just €15.3 M. The net import reliance measure, which captures the share of apparent consumption satisfied by net imports, moved from −18.3% in 2015 to −8.5% in 2025 — a 53.7% improvement. At its best point, net import reliance was nearly zero (−0.5%), indicating the EU was close to self-sufficiency in this product.

This improvement is attributable not to a surge in domestic production but to a more rapid contraction in import volumes relative to export volumes.

EU domestic production has declined sharply

PRODCOM data reveals a worrying counter-trend. EU production of knitted fabrics (excluding pile fabrics) fell from 360,895 t in 2015 to 280,115 t in 2025 (−22.4%). In value terms, the decline was even steeper: from €2,767.8 M to €1,993.7 M (−28.0%). Production volumes hit a trough of 256,653 t before partially recovering.

This suggests that the narrowing trade deficit is not a sign of a thriving domestic industry but rather of a sector in structural contraction that is both producing less and importing less. The simultaneous decline in production and imports, combined with a slight increase in export values, points to a sector that is consolidating around higher-value output while ceding lower-value segments to external suppliers.

Italy anchors EU production and trade, but specialisation is geographically concentrated

Among EU member states, Italy dominates both imports and exports of CN 6006. In 2025, Italy imported €197.0 M (+21.3% vs. 2015) and exported €148.7 M (+1.9%), making it the largest EU actor by a wide margin. Spain has emerged as the second-largest exporter (€134.1 M, +65.9%), overtaking France, which saw its exports decline to €91.6 M (−34.4%).

Specialisation analysis for 2025 reveals a clear geographic pattern. The most specialised EU producers, as measured by the Revealed Symmetric Comparative Advantage (RSCA), are:

Portugal's strong specialisation (RSCA 0.717) and high RCA (6.06) indicate that knitted fabric production accounts for a disproportionately large share of its overall textile output relative to the EU average. Italy's combination of high RCA (2.83) with the largest absolute production share (22.7%) confirms its role as the sector's anchor within the EU.

Specialisation data is available on the concentration dashboard.

Export concentration is rising, increasing fragility

A final structural concern is the increasing concentration of both import and export flows. The Herfindahl-Hirschman Index (HHI) for imports by value rose modestly from 3,279 to 3,385 (+3.2%), remaining in the moderately concentrated range. However, the HHI for exports increased more sharply from 1,031 to 1,418 (+37.5%). While still below the 1,500 threshold typically associated with high concentration, this upward trend signals that EU exports are becoming more dependent on a smaller number of destination markets. The growing reliance on Morocco and Tunisia — while commercially logical given outward processing arrangements — creates exposure to country-specific risks in those markets.

Concentration data can be examined via the concentration overview and vulnerability indicators.

Conclusion

The EU's trade in knitted fabrics (CN 6006) between 2015 and 2025 tells the story of a sector undergoing structural transformation. Three overarching dynamics emerge from the data.

First, volumes are declining across both imports and exports, but unit values have risen sufficiently to partially compensate in monetary terms. This is consistent with the broader global trend of rising input costs and a shift toward higher-value-added product mixes.

Second, the geographic map of trade has been redrawn. Brexit has had a measurable and dramatic impact on EU-UK textile trade flows, while emerging suppliers such as Uzbekistan and Egypt have rapidly gained ground. The EU's export orientation has consolidated around North African nearshore partners, reflecting the outward processing model that remains central to the European textile-apparel value chain.

Third, while the EU's trade deficit has narrowed and its net import reliance has improved, these positive headline indicators mask a deeper reality: domestic production is contracting at a faster rate than trade volumes. The EU is not so much achieving self-sufficiency as it is experiencing a simultaneous downsizing of both its productive capacity and its import needs.

Looking forward, the increasing concentration of exports, the continued reliance on a small number of nearshore partners, and the erosion of the domestic production base represent vulnerabilities that merit close monitoring. The 2022 price shocks — detected for exports to Ukraine, Mexico, and Morocco — serve as a reminder that the sector remains exposed to geopolitical and macroeconomic disruptions.

Full data and interactive charts