Clothing retail demand in Brazil, Saudi Arabia and Turkey will grow strongly between 2010 and 2015, a new report says, along with a number of smaller emerging markets including Colombia, Peru, Poland, South Africa and Thailand.

In Turkey, retail demand for clothing is forecast to grow by 11% per annum between 2010 and 2015, making the country one of the largest markets in Europe by the end of this period, according to ‘Trade and trade policy: clothing imports, retail demand and trends in five key emerging markets,’ published in February 2011 by Textiles Intelligence.

Several international brands have entered the Turkish market in recent years, hoping to take advantage of the country's growing, young and fashion-conscious population.

Furthermore, a number of international brands, such as Gap, Adidas and Nike, are shifting a significant portion of their production from China to Turkey because of reported price instabilities in China.

Such companies hope to gain not only from Turkey's growing domestic market but also from the closer proximity of Turkey to the EU market. Closer proximity has a number of advantages, including cheaper and quicker transportation, which enables a manufacturer to deliver in less time following receipt of a customer's order.

Suppliers in close proximity are also in a better position to fulfil replenishment orders placed by retailers after they have had chance to assess how well a product line is selling.

In Brazil retail demand for clothing is forecast to grow by 7% per annum between 2010 and 2015. As a result, demand will be stronger than in France and Germany and on a par with Japan by the end of this period.

Brazil's domestic market has opened up massively to international brands in recent years and, not surprisingly, several international retailers have set up operations in the country in order to take advantage of its fast growing economy.

This has spurred the Brazilian textile industry to spend US$13 billion on modernisation with the aim of improving quality and competitiveness and adding value to its products.

Also, Brazil continues to be one of the largest clothing producers in the world. Nevertheless, demand will continue to outstrip supply over the coming years and imports will rise.

Retail demand in Saudi Arabia is set to grow by over 12% per annum between 2010 and 2015, making this one of the fastest growing major markets behind China.

Significantly, several international brands – including Adidas, Gap, Jaeger, Nike and New Look – have begun to take advantage of the growth opportunities in Saudi Arabia by setting up operations in the country through distribution agreements and by opening stores with the help of franchise partners and strategic partners.

China is one of a select group of countries where clothing retail demand increased in 2009. In fact, demand rose by over 15% during the year, and is estimated to have risen by 17% in 2010. Furthermore, growth will be even faster between 2010 and 2015 at over 20% per annum.

In the USA, however, clothing retail demand is expected to grow by only 3% per annum between 2010 and 2015.

If these rates continue, clothing retail demand in China will be worth more than that in the USA by 2017.

‘Trade and trade policy: clothing imports, retail demand and trends in five key emerging markets’ was published by Textiles Intelligence in Issue 12 of Global Apparel Markets.