Market evolution: Women's knitted blouses (CN 6106) — 2015–2025

Introduction

This report analyses the evolution of EU trade in women's or girls' knitted or crocheted blouses, shirts and shirt-blouses (Combined Nomenclature code 6106, excluding T-shirts and vests) over the period 2015–2025. The product category covers three sub-headings: cotton blouses (610610), man-made fibre blouses (610620), and blouses of other textile materials (610690). The EU remains a substantial net importer of this product category, but the market has undergone significant structural shifts over the decade. As of 2025, total EU imports stood at €745.3 million, while EU exports reached €275.4 million, yielding a trade deficit of €469.9 million — a 20.6% narrowing from the €591.9 million deficit recorded in 2015.

Import volumes have contracted while unit values have risen, signalling a structural shift toward higher-value sourcing

Physical import volumes have declined across the decade

EU imports of CN 6106 products fell from 44,343 tonnes in 2015 to 36,355 tonnes in 2025, representing an 18.0% decline in mass terms. In supplementary unit terms (number of pieces), the drop was even more pronounced: imports fell from 217.3 million pieces to 174.0 million pieces (−19.9%). The lowest point was reached in 2020 at 28,000 tonnes and 140.0 million pieces, reflecting the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. A partial recovery followed in 2021–2025, but volumes have not returned to pre-pandemic levels.

Source: General Overview

Unit values have increased, particularly for exports

Import prices per tonne rose modestly from €19,609/t in 2015 to €20,493/t in 2025 (+4.5%), with a notable peak at €22,577/t in 2022 — likely reflecting pandemic-related supply disruptions and inflation. In contrast, EU export prices per tonne surged dramatically from €39,050/t to €70,644/t (+80.9%). The per-piece export price nearly doubled from €7.80 to €14.75 (+89.0%), suggesting that the EU is increasingly exporting higher-value, premium-positioned garments while sourcing more commoditised products from abroad. This price divergence between imports and exports — with the export unit value now 3.4 times the import unit value — points to a clear specialisation pattern: the EU sources basic and mid-range knitted blouses from low-cost producers and exports design-intensive or branded garments at premium prices.

Brexit has profoundly reshaped EU–UK trade flows, while sourcing geographies have consolidated around Asia

The UK has lost its position as the EU's top export destination

The United Kingdom was the EU's largest single export market for CN 6106 in 2015, absorbing €87.1 million of EU exports. By 2025, this figure had fallen to €39.3 million — a 54.9% decline. This collapse is almost certainly attributable to Brexit: the UK's departure from the EU Single Market and Customs Union introduced customs formalities, rules-of-origin requirements, and potential tariff barriers that reduced the competitiveness of EU-sourced garments on the British market. The volatility coefficient for EU exports to the UK (CV of 0.45) confirms significant instability in this trade relationship over the period.

The UK also ceased to be a significant source of EU imports: imports from the UK fell from €59.3 million in 2015 to just €11.5 million in 2025 (−80.6%), with the sharpest drop occurring after 2020.

Bangladesh has overtaken Türkiye as the EU's primary supplier

A major structural shift in EU import sourcing has occurred over the decade:

Source: Partners dashboard

In 2015, Türkiye was the EU's largest supplier (€218.6M), followed by China (€175.4M) and Bangladesh (€144.1M). By 2025, Bangladesh had risen to the top position (€179.7M), closely followed by China (€188.6M), while Türkiye had fallen to third place (€130.7M). Bangladesh's rise is notable for its remarkably low volatility (CV of just 0.11), indicating a stable and growing sourcing relationship. Meanwhile, the decline in imports from North Macedonia (−68.3%) and the near-disappearance of the UK as a supplier reflect post-Brexit supply chain restructuring and the relocation of nearshoring activity.

On the export side, the United States and Ukraine have emerged as growth markets

While losing the UK, EU exporters have found new outlets. EU exports to the United States grew from €13.5 million to €28.7 million (+113.1%), and exports to Ukraine surged from €2.8 million to €9.0 million (+223.6%). These shifts partly compensated for the loss of the Russian market (from €23.0M to €7.9M, −65.6%), which likely reflects sanctions-related disruptions following 2022. The diversification of export destinations is confirmed by the sharp decline in the export-side Herfindahl-Hirschman Index (HHI), which fell from 1,345 in 2015 to 744 in 2025 (−44.7%).

EU domestic production has collapsed, deepening import reliance and reshaping intra-EU trade patterns

EU production of knitted blouses has contracted dramatically

The most striking structural change in this market is the near-total erosion of EU domestic production. Between the first and last available production years, output fell from 132.5 million pieces to 32.9 million pieces (−75.2%) in volume, and from €647.6 million to €370.5 million (−42.8%) in value. The steeper decline in physical volume relative to value indicates that surviving EU production has shifted toward higher-value garments — a pattern consistent with the export price dynamics discussed above.

This production decline has dramatically increased the EU's net import reliance, which rose from 19.6% in 2015 to 53.8% in 2025 (+174.3%). At its peak (around 2021), this metric reached 64.7%. The EU has thus moved from being a market where domestic production covered roughly 80% of consumption to one where more than half of consumption is sourced from outside the bloc.

Poland has emerged as the EU's dominant import hub

Among EU member states, the evolution of import shares has been dramatic:

Source: Reporters dashboard

Poland's imports nearly tripled, rising from €36.3 million to €99.9 million. This likely reflects Poland's growing role as a logistics and distribution hub within the EU, potentially also capturing some of the garment finishing and re-export activity that has shifted eastward. Conversely, Germany — while remaining the largest single importer — saw its share decline by 32.1%.

Italy has become the EU's leading exporter, overtaking Spain

On the export side, Italy more than doubled its exports from €36.0 million to €81.9 million (+127.6%), becoming the EU's top exporter of this product category. Spain, which led in 2015 with €72.7 million in exports, saw a catastrophic 79.6% decline to just €14.9 million. France also grew strongly (+86.8% to €39.6M). These shifts suggest a concentration of premium and branded knitted blouse production in Italy, which is consistent with the broader trend of EU exports moving upmarket. The specialisation data confirms this: Greece (RSCA 0.79), Bulgaria (0.62), and Denmark (0.54) are the most specialised EU exporters of CN 6106, while large economies like Ireland and Hungary show negative specialisation.

Import concentration has increased, raising supply-chain vulnerability

The import-side HHI rose from 1,487 to 1,644 (+10.6%), indicating that the EU's import base has become slightly more concentrated. With Bangladesh, China, and Türkiye collectively accounting for the vast majority of imports, any disruption to these supply chains — whether from geopolitical events, natural disasters, or policy changes — could pose risks to EU availability. Notably, the 2022 price shock detected for Bangladesh imports (an abnormality score of 11.0, with a +30.4% price shift) underscores the sensitivity of this relationship.

Conclusion

The EU market for women's knitted blouses (CN 6106) has undergone a profound transformation over the 2015–2025 period. Three defining dynamics stand out: first, the dramatic contraction of EU domestic production (−75% in volume), which has pushed net import reliance from under 20% to over 50%; second, the reshaping of trade flows following Brexit, which severed the UK's role as both the EU's top export market and a significant import supplier; and third, the consolidation of Asian sourcing — with Bangladesh overtaking Türkiye as the leading supplier — alongside a premium repositioning of EU exports, whose unit values have nearly doubled.

These trends carry important implications. The deepening import reliance makes the EU vulnerable to supply disruptions in a small number of Asian countries, while the upmarket shift in exports suggests that surviving EU production is increasingly concentrated in design-intensive niches. The growth of Poland as an import hub and Italy as an export powerhouse reflects the evolving internal geography of the EU textile value chain. Going forward, policymakers and industry stakeholders will need to balance the cost efficiency of global sourcing against the strategic risks of dependency, while leveraging the EU's comparative advantage in higher-value segments of this market.