Market evolution: Textile articles and sets (CN 63) — 2015–2025

Introduction

This report examines the evolution of EU external trade in Combined Nomenclature heading 63 — covering made-up textile articles (bedlinen, curtains, tents, sacks, etc.), sets of fabric and yarn, worn clothing, and textile rags — over the 2015–2025 period. The category is broad and heterogeneous, spanning both consumer-facing home-textile products and industrial or second-hand goods. Against a backdrop of shifting global supply chains, a once-in-a-century pandemic, and the United Kingdom's departure from the EU single market, the data reveal a sector characterised by a deepening structural trade deficit, dramatic pandemic-era import distortions, and an increasingly concentrated supplier base centred in Asia. The analysis that follows unpacks these dynamics across three thematic sections.

1. A Deepening Structural Deficit: Imports Outpace Exports Across the Decade

1.1 The headline trade gap widened substantially

Over the 2015–2025 period, the EU's trade deficit in CN 63 grew from −€4.8 billion to −€8.4 billion, a deterioration of 75.6% (General Overview — trade). At its widest — during the pandemic peak of 2020 — the deficit ballooned to −€25.8 billion, driven almost entirely by a surge in imports. Even after this shock subsided, the deficit settled at a level well above its pre-2015 baseline, indicating a structural rather than cyclical shift.

Imports grew nearly five times faster than exports over the period, underscoring the EU's heavy reliance on external suppliers for this category.

1.2 Volume growth was positive on both sides, but prices diverged

The EU imported 1.66 million tonnes of CN 63 products in 2015 and 2.46 million tonnes in 2025, a volume increase of 47.8%. Exports also grew in volume — from 1.34 million tonnes to 1.63 million tonnes (+22.0%) — but export unit values declined from €2,524/t to €2,310/t (−8.5%), while import prices held roughly steady at around €4,900–4,950/t (General Overview — trade).

This price gap reflects a compositional difference: EU exports are dominated by low-unit-value worn clothing and rags (CN 6309 and 6310), while imports consist primarily of higher-value finished products such as bedlinen, curtains, and made-up articles.

1.3 Net import reliance more than quintupled

The EU's net import reliance for CN 63 rose from 7.7% in 2015 to 45.8% in 2025 — a 492% increase. Similarly, trade intensity (total trade as a share of production) jumped from 18.9% to 67.2%, and export propensity (exports as a share of production) rose from 6.7% to 29.8%. These figures collectively point to a sector that is becoming simultaneously more export-oriented and more import-dependent — a hallmark of globalised supply chains where the EU acts as both a re-export hub and a major consumption market.

2. Asia's Rising Share and the 2020 Pandemic Supply Shock

2.1 China dominates, but Pakistan and Viet Nam are the fastest-growing suppliers

China remained the EU's largest single import source throughout the period, with trade rising from €3.20 billion (2015) to €5.08 billion (2025), a 58.9% increase. However, the most dynamic growth came from Pakistan (+117.9%, from €1.03 bn to €2.23 bn) and Viet Nam (+105.0%, from €0.17 bn to €0.35 bn) (General Overview — top partners). India also posted robust growth (+47.5%), reaching €1.24 billion in 2025. Türkiye, by contrast, was essentially flat (−2.3%), while UK-origin imports fell 23.2% to €295 million — a likely consequence of post-Brexit trade friction.

Import-side concentration (HHI by value) rose from 2,026 to 2,329 (+15.0%), with a dramatic peak of 5,968 during the pandemic year — reflecting China's near-monopoly in PPE-related textile imports at that moment (Market Structure — concentration).

2.2 The 2020 pandemic triggered an extraordinary import and price shock

The most striking event in the dataset is the 2020–2021 COVID-19 disturbance. EU imports of CN 63 surged to a peak of €29.6 billion in 2020, almost entirely driven by a single sub-product: CN 6307 ("Made-up articles of textile materials, n.e.s."), which in 2020 saw its import value explode from €2.4 billion (2019) to €23.0 billion — a nearly tenfold increase. The unit price for CN 6307 imports spiked to €34,715/t in 2020, compared to €5,921/t the year before (Product Segment Breakdown).

This was the PPE (personal protective equipment) effect: face masks, surgical gowns, and similar disposable textile articles fell under CN 6307, and the EU sourced the vast majority from China. The shock analysis confirms this, detecting a price shock for Chinese imports in 2020 with an abnormality score of 86.1 and a unit-price shift of +375%, affecting flows representing 59.4% of import value (Volatility & Shocks).

By 2021, the PPE bubble had already partially deflated: CN 6307 import value fell to €5.4 billion and import prices eased to €9,111/t, though they remained above pre-pandemic levels. By 2025, CN 6307 imports had normalised to €3.3 billion at €6,186/t.

2.3 Export volatility was highest in niche markets

On the export side, the United Arab Emirates showed the highest volatility (coefficient of variation of 0.40), followed by Pakistan (0.24) and the United Kingdom (0.18). A UK export price shock was detected in 2021 (abnormality 19.1, +20.1% price shift), likely reflecting post-Brexit adjustment and supply-chain reconfiguration rather than a fundamental demand shift (Volatility & Shocks).

Among EU member states, the United Kingdom remained the largest single export destination throughout the period (€539 million in 2015, falling to €445 million in 2025, −17.4%), reflecting its continued importance despite Brexit-related trade diversion.

3. Uneven Segment Dynamics: From Bedlinen Dominance to Second-Hand Clothing Exports

3.1 Bedlinen and table linen (CN 6302) is the largest import segment

By 2025, the leading import category by value was CN 6302 (bedlinen, table linen, toilet and kitchen linen), at €4.34 billion — up from €3.14 billion in 2015 (+38.3%). By volume, it reached 714,852 tonnes (+46.2%). This segment remained remarkably stable through the pandemic, with neither the dramatic volume surges nor the price spikes seen in CN 6307, reflecting its status as a steady consumer staple (Product Segment Breakdown).

3.2 Exports are dominated by worn clothing and second-hand textile articles

The EU's export profile looks very different from its import profile. The two largest export segments by volume are CN 6309 (worn clothing and textiles, 1.28 million tonnes in 2025 at just €633/t) and CN 6310 (used or new rags, 154,000 tonnes at €236/t). Together, these second-hand and scrap categories account for the vast majority of EU export tonnage but only about one-quarter of export value (Product Segment Breakdown).

By contrast, the highest-value EU exports are CN 6303 (curtains and blinds, €24,125/t), CN 6307 (made-up articles, €16,770/t), and CN 6306 (tarpaulins and tents, €15,362/t) — niche industrial or home-furnishing products where EU manufacturers retain a competitive edge in quality or design.

3.3 EU production expanded, but import penetration deepened

EU domestic production of CN 63 products grew from 701,535 tonnes (€7.86 bn) to 1,327,838 tonnes (€9.68 bn) — a quantity increase of 89.3% and a value increase of 23.1% (Market Structure — production). The fact that volume grew much faster than value implies falling domestic unit values — a trend consistent with increased competitive pressure from low-cost imports and a possible shift toward lower-margin products.

Looking at specialisation patterns, Portugal (RSCA of 0.50), Romania (0.32), Lithuania (0.32), and Poland (0.27) are the most specialised EU exporters in CN 63, while Ireland, Cyprus, Malta, and Luxembourg show the weakest specialisation — a geographic pattern consistent with labour-cost advantages in Southern and Eastern Europe (Market Structure — specialisation).

Conclusion

The EU's trade in CN 63 over 2015–2025 tells a story of deepening global integration punctuated by a seismic pandemic disruption. The structural trade deficit widened as imports grew at nearly five times the pace of exports, driven by strong demand for bedlinen, made-up textile articles, and sacks from Asian suppliers — principally China, Pakistan, India, and Viet Nam. The 2020 COVID-19 crisis produced an extraordinary but temporary spike in import values and unit prices, concentrated overwhelmingly in CN 6307 (made-up articles including PPE), which distorted the 2020–2021 data before reverting to trend. Meanwhile, the EU's export profile remains dominated by low-value worn clothing and textile rags, even as specialised member states in Southern and Eastern Europe maintain competitive positions in higher-value segments. Rising net import reliance (from 7.7% to 45.8%) and increasing supplier concentration point to growing vulnerability in this sector — a consideration that may gain relevance as the EU pursues supply-chain resilience and sustainability objectives in the textile value chain.