美国、日本和欧洲的经济衰退严重影响了全球纺织服装业。根据行业数据，每月进口额下降了40亿美元，从2008年的300亿美元下降到2010年的260亿美元。讽刺的是，这一意外的下降发生在纺织业于1994年实施非配额框架和2001年中国正式加入世界贸易组织之后的一段快速增长时期。在2008年金融危机爆发之前，全球纺织服装贸易表现良好。

经济变化

However, the economic crisis in 2008 evolved into a serious recession that caused many advanced economies to experience declines in national output, increased unemployment levels and lethargic investment activity. During this period, consumers in Japan and those in advanced western economies substantially reduced spending on consumer products due to tenuous financial security and other unfavorable market conditions. Some consumers postponed purchases while others resorted to cheaper alternatives. Among the hardest hit by the low consumer demand is the textile and garments sector. Following the recession, industry players suffered declining sales and attempted to hedge profit margins by implementing cost-cutting measures. At the extreme end, some textile factories had to be shut down in many locations.

While signs of recovery have been detected as early as 2009, the global textile and garment industry is yet to replicate its upbeat performance before the crisis. Much of the recovery rides on the resilient economies of India and China, both of which have huge stakes in the textile and garments sector.

中国纺织品

China’s textile sector enjoyed a 30 percent year-on-year growth in the first half of 2011. Easily the world’s largest producer of woolen fabrics and cotton textiles, China shifted textile marketing and distribution to domestic consumers instead of maintaining its traditional export-oriented focus. Given its population, local demand is expected to spur production and support industry growth. Given this realignment, exports still posted a year on year growth of 25.73 percent in the first half of 2011, reaching a value of USD 111.73 billion. While proving resilient to the recession, the Chinese textile and garment industry still faces challenges such as the fluctuations in cotton prices, rising manufacturing and labor costs, as well as hiked financing rates.

印度纺织品

印度曾两次禁止棉花出口，以储存足够的国内供应，对冲棉花价格波动。毕竟，棉花价格在 2011 年 3 月达到了出人意料的惊人峰值，这是自 19 世纪 60 年代以来的最高水平。印度政府也跟随中国采取了行动，囤积了大量棉花，但更进一步限制棉花外流，以保护国内纺织企业。

然而，由于全世界都依赖印度（仅次于美国的第二大棉花生产国）的棉花出口，今年 3 月做出的决定加剧了人们的看法，即纺织行业分析显示其波动性，棉花（近一半纺织品的原材料）的供应处于受损状态。棉花价格上涨将影响国际服装业，该行业已经面临双重挑战，即运输费用上涨和外包国家劳动力成本上涨。