Japan has witnessed a decent start with an increase in both its apparel import weights and values during January ’22, as per official figures.
Importing almost US $ 2 billion apparels in the first month of 2022, Japan witnessed 17.91 per cent yearly increase, while it grew by 4.96 per cent in weight-wise imports.
Despite growth, it can be safely said that the Japanese buyers are buying cautiously and there are no set patterns in their buying behaviour that might continue as retail industry in Japan is still on revival mode.
Sourcing from China has drastically increased in January ’22, while sourcing of knitwear from India has upped (by 77 per cent) but woven category saw massive decline by 21.90 per cent.
China contributed US $ 1.18 billion (up 21.84 per cent on Y-o-Y basis) in total apparel import values of Japan, which is nearly 59 per cent of the shipment value.
The second top importing destination was Vietnam that grew by 12.23 per cent in its shipment on Y-o-Y basis to US $ 287.66 million.
Imports from Bangladesh valued US $ 90.44 million, up 30 per cent from January ’21, whereas India contributed US $ 18.52 million in Japanese apparel imports during January ’22.
