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The Socio-Economic Impact of Second-Hand Clothes in Africa and the EU27+. The industry's share of GDP in Germany and the UK alone was €670 million ($720 million) and €420 million ($450 million), respectively. The industry was expected to sustain 150,000 jobs in 2023. Women made up eight out of ten (79%) of the workforce.The sector encouraged an expected total €7 billion ($7.6 billion) total contribution to the EU and UK’s (EU27+) GDP in 2023, of which the sector earned €3.0 billion ($3.2 billion) alone, according to the research The Socio-Economic Impact of Second-Hand Clothes in Africa and the EU27+. The industry’s share of GDP in Germany and the UK alone was €670 million ($720 million) and €420 million ($450 million), respectively.
In the EU27+, the industry was expected to sustain 150,000 jobs in 2023. Of these, 110,000 were directly related to the green industry and offered opportunities, especially to those with limited formal education. Women made up eight out of ten (79%) of the workforce, and lower-income nations like Bulgaria, Romania, and Poland saw a large increase in job prospects. This paper attempts to quantify the socio-economic repercussions of the business on two continents and is the first to analyse the sector’s whole value chain. It fills in current information gaps by focussing on the EU27+ as well as Ghana, Kenya, and Mozambique and providing insights that were not before available on this scale.
The development of the SHC industry depends on a well-established value chain that creates green jobs and economic value at every point between the Global North and the Global South. By effectively transporting old clothing from the worldwide North to the Global South, where demand for reasonably priced, high-quality clothing is still growing, the industry helps to bridge the gap between supply and demand on a worldwide scale. This keeps clothing in use, assisting in the achievement of climate targets and protecting the environment. By giving people who may otherwise be jobless or underemployed the opportunity to start their own business and support their dependents, the industry also helps to reduce poverty.
In Ghana, used apparel from the EU27+ is expected to provide 65,000 formal and informal jobs in 2023, bringing in an estimated $76 million to the GDP (of which $35 million was direct). $17 million was directly provided to Kenya’s GDP ($9.2 million) and $10.7 million to Mozambique’s ($2.7 million) in the same year. In Kenya, there were 6,300 formal workers and at least 68,000 informal workers. At least 15,000 informal jobs and 5,700 formal jobs were supported in Mozambique.
In the previous year, the EU27+ accounted for up to 47% of Ghana’s imports of used apparel. This contrasts with the 18% of direct imports from the EU27+ that go to Mozambique and the 13% that go to Kenya (not including imports that arrive via intermediary countries). SHC imports from the EU27+ are only increasing in Ghana. While SHC imports as a whole are still increasing in Kenya and Mozambique, the EU’s proportion is decreasing.
The research demonstrates that in the absence of appropriate regulations, this environmentally friendly and sustainable industry runs the risk of losing ground to fast fashion manufacturing behemoths like China, which still control a large portion of the world’s textile markets by creating new, lower-quality clothing at a steep environmental cost.
Later this month, talks to ratify changes to the Waste Framework Directive—which has an impact on the second-hand clothing trade—will take place at the EU level. Decision-makers engaged in these talks are urged by this report to assist operators of textile reuse. The EU will impose mandatory separate textile collection in January 2025, therefore it is critical that these talks start soon and conclude quickly to provide the industry certainty.
The EU’s ability to support national climate targets in Africa, European green policy goals, and the Sustainable Development Goals—particularly those pertaining to poverty, women’s involvement, and responsible consumption—may be compromised if action is not made to improve the SHC sector.
