Danish clothing industry increases exports

Danish clothing suppliers were able to achieve a small increase in exports in 2024. This is according to the latest figures published by the industry association Dansk Mode & Textil (DM&T) on Monday at the start of Copenhagen Fashion Week.

According to the figures, the industry's export turnover amounted to 40.9 billion Danish kroner (4.6 billion pounds) last year. This corresponds to an increase of 1 percent compared to 2023. The growth is due to a “strong final spurt”, explained DM&T. In the first nine months of the year, export revenues were still 4 percent below the previous year's level. Due to the relatively small domestic market, foreign business is traditionally particularly important for Danish fashion companies, as it accounts for almost 70 percent of their total sales.

Germany remains the most important foreign market

Germany remained by far the strongest foreign market for Danish textile companies. The corresponding exports reached a total value of 10.30 billion Danish kroner (1.15 billion pounds) in 2024, slightly exceeding the previous year's level of 10.25 billion Danish Kroner.

Despite a 4 percent drop in sales, Sweden came in second place with 4.04 billion Danish kroner, followed by the Netherlands in third place with unchanged export sales of 3.43 billion Danish kroner. Danish fashion companies achieved growth in Poland (+10 percent), Norway (+1 percent), France (+2 percent) and Belgium (+5 percent), among others, while export sales in Italy and the UK fell by 1 percent each.

Geopolitical uncertainties shape the future

Michael Hillmose, who is responsible for international business and data analysis at DM&T, drew a positive balance of the past year in view of the recent upward trend. “As expected, both domestic sales and exports got off to a sluggish start. But from July, the picture changed and exports picked up, growing by six percent for the rest of the year compared to 2023,” he said in a statement. “This gives hope for a normalization in several of the important export markets, and hopefully this development will continue until 2025.”

At the same time, Hillmose emphasized that the current year is also likely to be shaped by geopolitical uncertainties. The industry is currently awaiting the new US government's decisions on customs policy “with great anticipation”.

This article originally appeared on FashionUnited.DE. It was translated to English using AI and edited by Rachel Douglass.

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