Consumer demand for textile products—including clothing and home textiles—is predicted to grow by 2.8 per cent per annum between 2015 and 2025. However, growth will be driven almost entirely by a rise in demand for textile products made from synthetic fibers.

As a result, the share of non-cotton textile products in total consumer demand for textile products will increase from 73 per cent to 79 per cent between 2015 and 2025 whereas the share of cotton textile products will fall from 27 per cent to just 21 per cent. Further, demand for cotton textile products at the end of this ten-year period will still be less than the level of demand seen in 2010.

Consumer demand for textile products made from synthetic fibers will grow by an average of 3.7 per cent per annum over 2015 and 2025 whereas consumer demand for cotton textile products will grow by only 0.2 per cent per annum. The rise in the share of non-cotton textile products reflects a significant increase in the share of textile products made from synthetic fibers. In fact, this share rose in each of the 10 years to 2016 and is expected to rise further in 2017.