The global picture of the textile market in Ukraine 2020-2021
The light industry of Ukraine is a promising sector that has seen steady growth for several years. The country's textile, sewing, knitwear and leather industries are all seeing increased demand thanks to high-quality products at affordable prices internationally and domestically.
Today, the primary vectors for the development of the Ukrainian light industry are knitted clothing, textiles and footwear. In total, as of the end of 2019, there were about 2.000 sewing factories of various sizes in Ukraine (nearly half of which are mini or microformat).
Export of Ukrainian textiles
The clothes of the Ukrainian manufacturer are gaining popularity not only in Ukraine but also internationally. Ukrainian light industry products are exported to 150 countries. The main export items are textiles and textile products — 68.2% ($171.5 million), hats and footwear, fur and leather products — 31.8% ($80 million).
Manufacturers of local textiles are aimed at the external market. The main buyers of Ukrainian production are the EU countries: Italy, Poland and Hungary with a combined turnover of about 4 million euros per year.
Forecasts for the future
Ukraine has the potential to take a leading position in the region for the production of textiles. The Ukrainian labor force is comparably cheap and the production capacity is colossal. Ukraine is located in the central part of Eastern Europe at the intersection of transport routes from Europe to Asia and Scandinavian countries. So there is no more ideal geographical location than Ukraine for the production and export of textiles.
The Ukrainian government is interested in modernizing light industry facilities, introducing innovations and developing human resources. As Ukraine shows great interest in adopting new technologies across various industries, including manufacturing, it has great development prospects to compete with many other regions around Europe or Asia.
