U.S. Apparel Retail Remains Sluggish In January

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In 2020, U.S. clothing imports will drop sharply, and the decline rate of each category will be different. Starting from the fourth quarter, clothing imports began to recover, as the import unit prices of most categories fell sharply.

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In the fourth quarter of 2020, the import volume of cotton clothing in the United States increased by 6.6%, the import of chemical fiber clothing increased by 3.7%, and the import of wool clothing decreased by 18.5%. In the first three quarters, the import volume of the above three kinds of clothing showed double-digit decline.

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In the fourth quarter of 2020, the import volume of cotton long skirts in the United States increased by 10.7%, and the import of chemical fiber trousers for women and girls increased by 18.4%. The import volume of most other categories decreased, with men's and boys' cotton knitted shirts falling by 39%, and men's and boys' chemical fiber trousers by 33.3%.

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In terms of amount, imports of most categories fell, due to the double-digit decline in import unit price for the second consecutive quarter. From the perspective of the whole year, the import volume and price of almost all categories decreased significantly, and only a few categories had a decline of less than 10%.

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In 2020, the U.S. clothing import unit price will decline by 8.5%, of which cotton clothing will decrease by 7.4%, and chemical fiber clothing will decrease by 8.2%. Over the past five years, the unit price of clothing imports in the United States has fallen by 12%, cotton clothing by 6%, and chemical fiber clothing by 13%.

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According to statistics, in January this year, the total retail sales of goods in the United States amounted to $509.8 billion, up 5.8% year-on-year. However, clothing sales were $14.738 billion, down 11.3% year-on-year, the lowest level since January 2012.