Articles
19 August 2026
Structural shift reshapes EU clothing retail employment as e-commerce grows
Articles
19 August 2026
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New Eurostat-based data published by the European Environment Agency shows that employment in EU clothing retail fell to 1,188,250 in 2023, continuing a longer-term decline driven more by changes in how consumers shop than by weaker demand for clothing.
Editorial team
European Environment Agency
Topics
EU-27
Business Support Organisation
Company with 250 or more employees
EU Institutions
Industry Associations and Chambers of Commerce
National authorities
SMEs (a company with less than 250 employees)
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Ecosystem
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Retail
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Between 2018 and 2023, the sector lost more than 100,000 jobs and over 30,000 stores, with employment down 7.9% and the number of companies down 10.9%.
The decline reflects growing competition from e-commerce and ultra-fast fashion platforms. Clothing was the EU’s most popular online purchase category in 2024, while around 4.6 billion low-value parcels entered the EU that year, roughly twice as many as in 2023.
#RetailSMEs #DigitalRetail #FairCompetition
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