The total imports of textile and apparel products by France decreased at a CAGR of -3% to reach US$ 28 billion in 2016, while exports of these products has decreased at CAGR of -2% to reach US$ 15 billion. The textile and apparel trade balance recorded a deficit of US$ 13 billion in 2016.
Textile and Apparel Imports Profile
Apparel is the largest imported category by France representing 76% of total textile and apparel imports. This is followed by man-made textiles andcotton textiles with a share of 10% and 8% respectively. Top 10 suppliers accounted for 72% of textile and apparel imports by France in 2016. China is the largest supplier accounting for 27% share followed by Italy (10%) and Bangladesh (9%).
India’s Textile and Apparel Exports to France
India is the fifthlargestsupplier of textile and apparel products to France. India’s exports of T&A to France stood at US$ 1.4 billion in 2016. It has declined at a CAGR of 2% over last five years. India’s share has remained constant at 5% from 2012 to 2016.Apparel is the largest category with a share of 80% in India’s T&A exports to France. This is followed by cotton textiles having a share of 12% and man-made textiles having share of 4%.
India’s share in France’s textile and apparel imports has remained constant over the past 5 years at 5%. While France’s textile and apparel imports are approx. US$ 28 bn., India exports only US$ 1.4 bn. which indicates that there is a huge potential to penetrate the market further. Also, most of the countries from which France imports, have a duty free advantage, especially Bangladesh has duty free access to France under Everything But Arms (EBA) arrangement with EU. Observing the current scenario, India has to leverage on its huge resource potential and cater to the requirement of low cost products through manufacturing excellence constituting superior product quality, innovative design, customization, on-time delivery, technology innovations and finally admirable after sales service. Delivering the quality will help penetrate India into France’s textile and apparel market.
