The line chart illustrates the clothing export volumes in four different countries including China, European Union, Asia (excluding China) and the USA over a 14-year period, from 2000 to 2014.
As can be clearly seen from the chart, there was a downward trend in most of the regions, except for China, which was also the largest exporter by the end of the period.
Regarding 2000, the European Union took the lead at about 32%, followed closely by Asia, at 30%. In stark contrast, China and the USA lagged behind at around 14% and 11%, respectively.
Over the period, despite its initial dominance, the European Union was overtaken by China in 2008 and witnessed a significant decline to roughly 21% in 2014, leaving it the second-largest exporter. Similarly, although the USA experienced a brief recovery in 2010, it still halved to about 6% by the end. On the other hand, Asia (without China) made a major contribution to the global clothing exports at first but saw a steep drop in the first two years to about 17% before recovering to 20% in 2014. Conversely, starting as one of the countries with the lowest export levels, China underwent a remarkable growth and eventually surpassed all the regions to become the top exporter, reaching approximately 37%.