Nina Jobst
Research expert covering South Korea
Apparel shopping behavior in Europe - statistics & facts
The United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, France, and Spain had the highest revenues from apparel of all European countries and ranked in the top 10 of the largest clothing markets worldwide. The total consumer spending on clothing and footwear in Europe in 2023 was estimated to be worth 937 billion U.S. dollars, rising to more than 1.13 trillion dollars in 2028. In 2023, concerns such as the economic situation and sustainability influenced the way many consumers purchased their clothing.
Consumers to save or splurge on fashion?
On average, European consumers were estimated to purchase roughly 42 items of apparel per capita in 2023, which was a significant increase compared to the previous year. However, this was not forecast to change significantly over the following years. This lack of growth could stem from concerns over personal finances. In a 2023 survey, 15 percent of consumers from selected European countries said that they were buying fewer fashion items to save money. On the other hand, over a third of respondents in the same survey said that they intended to “splurge” on apparel, spending their saved-up money on clothes.Willingness to shop sustainability
An alternative factor influencing the lack of growth in volume of apparel sold per capita in Europe is the concern over the environmental impact of the fashion industry. In France, in 2023, over one third of consumers said that they had reduced their clothing purchases for sustainability reasons, and a further 26 percent said that they had not reduced their purchases but intend to. Sustainability was important to a significant proportion of European consumers. However, linked to the concern over personal finances, the cost of sustainable fashion was a problem. In all four of France, Great Britain, Germany, and Italy this was named as the leading reason consumers would not buy sustainable clothing items.
