Textile Exchange’s annual report, which tracks total production volumes for all fibre markets and models greenhouse gas emissions for fashion, home textiles, and footwear shows there was record-breaking material production in 2024.
It reached approximately 132m tonnes in 2024 for all markets (equivalent to four tonnes of fibre being produced every second) and fueled an increase in greenhouse gas emissions.
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The latest modelling also suggests greenhouse gas emissions associated with the total production of raw materials for these sectors has risen by 20% over the past five years.
It does point out the subset of companies now reporting their sustainability progress into Textile Exchange’s framework has reached record levels, which means there is momentum toward collective accountability and creating new opportunities for collaboration.
Of the 423 participating brands and retailers, including subsidiaries, the majority are actively replacing conventional materials with those from certified sources, avoiding high-risk sourcing areas for natural fibres, and reducing their use of virgin fossil-based polyester.
Textile Exchange’s chief impact officer Beth Jensen says the latest report shows “we’re at a critical moment”.
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By GlobalDataShe explains: “It’s now nearly 10 years since the Paris Agreement, when countries around the world committed to trying to keep global temperatures below 2°C and ideally below 1.5°C. Since then, the data shows that greenhouse gas emissions from raw material and fibre production within the apparel, home textiles, and footwear industry have continued to significantly rise. Each year global fibre production volumes increase to record levels. There has been progress, but the time we have to transform our systems is running out. It’s clear that decisive action is needed.”
Textile Exchange’s CEO Claire Bergkamp maintains that she’s “encouraged to see real progress in our community as companies that are reporting are increasing their use of certified raw materials and reducing their reliance on virgin fossil-based polyester. The challenge now is to take this progress to scale.”
The report highlights the role companies can play in reporting their progress and investing in sourcing fibres from recognised standards and
certification programmes.
It says both practices help the industry track progress and provide credible verification mechanisms.
Data from its Materials Market Report shows that about 34% of global cotton production now comes from certified sources, two-thirds of manmade cellulosic fibres (MMCFs) are produced using certified or controlled feedstock, and half of all mohair is certified to Textile Exchange’s Responsible Mohair Standard.
This year Textile Exchange has opened its first Fiber and Materials Matrix as a self-assessment survey. It allows standards and other Tier 4 initiatives to directly report what they are doing, in a bid to help the industry deepen its understanding of the scope and impact of various Tier 4 programmes across the industry.
Textile Exchange Materials Market Report’s key findings
- 2024 saw record levels of global fibre production, which reached around 132m tonnes in 2024, up from around 125m tonnes in 2023. This has increased by approximately 34m tonnes since the Paris Agreement was adopted in 2015 and now equates to around four tonnes of fibre production every second.
- The biggest increase in global fibre production was in fossil fuel-based synthetics, with polyester continuing to be the most widely produced fibre. It now makes up 59% of total global fibre output of which 88% is fossil-based.
- Recycled polyester increased from around 8.9m tonnes in 2023 to around 9.3m tonnes in 2024 but because of the larger increase in virgin polyester production, its market share declined slightly from 12.5% in 2023 to 12% in 2024. Recycled polyester is still primarily made from plastic bottles (98%).
- Cotton’s share of the global fibre market fell by 1% to 19% in 2023/24, but it remained the second most produced fibre in the world.
- For all fibres, textile-to-textile recycling remains low at less than 1%.
Key findings from the Climate+ Dashboard
The dashboard helps the industry track progress toward Textile Exchange’s goal of reducing the greenhouse gas emissions associated with material production by 45% by 2030 from a 2019 baseline. This goal was developed to be in line with the Paris Agreement targets. The latest data shows:
- The total greenhouse gas impact of material production for the fashion, home textiles, and footwear sector increased by around 6% between 2023 and 2024. It has increased by 20% since the baseline was set in 2019.
- Polyester continues to be the biggest contributor to greenhouse gas emissions (approximately 43% of the total impact) due to the high volumes produced.
Key findings from the Materials Benchmark
The Materials Benchmark tracks the fibres and raw materials sourced by the reporting companies, as well as how they are addressing areas like circularity, biodiversity, land, freshwater, and forests. Key findings from 2024 include:
- A record number of brands and retailers are reporting to Textile Exchange, up from 57 when it started in 2015 to 423 in 2025.
- Among the subsets of brands that reported data on specific fibres and materials for both 2023 and 2024:
(i) The share of raw materials certified under sustainability programmes increased from 58% in 2023 to 67% in 2024.
(ii) Virgin fossil-based polyester use decreased from 637,388 tonnes in 2023 to 560,029 tonnes in 2024.
(iii) The share of brands that implemented measures to reduce impacts on climate and nature during raw materials production increased from 77% in 2023 to 81% in 2024.
(iv) The percentage of brands with formal climate targets rose from 85% in 2023 to 88% in 2024.
