China and Vietnam collectively supplied 71 percent of the total apparel imported by Japan during January-September 2022. China’s exports to Japan were worth $10.310 bn or 55.76 percent of the country’s total imports of $18.490 bn in the period under review, while Vietnam was the second largest supplier with a 15.35 percent share.
China and Vietnam supplied apparel worth $13.149 bn to Japan in first nine months of this year. Vietnam alone shipped apparel worth $2.839 bn in the period, according to market report.
Along with geographical proximity with Japan, an understanding of buyers’ choices and quality preferences play a vital role in making China and Vietnam the top suppliers. It is believed in industry circles that Japanese buyers are particular and strict in terms of quality and standards of the products they buy.
The other countries that make it to the list of top 5 exporters to Japan include Bangladesh (5.44 percent), Cambodia (4.98 percent) and Myanmar (4.19 percent). Indonesia, Italy, Thailand, India, and Malaysia are the other suppliers enlisted as the top ten suppliers. But their share of supply was less than 3.2 percent each, as per market report.
In the year 2021, Japan imported apparel worth $23.804 bn. China’s share in it was 58.30 percent with supply valued at $13.878 bn, while Vietnam’s share was 14.49 percent valued at $3.450 bn. The other top 10 exporting countries had a marginal share in 2021.
