Turkey’s textile and garment industry, once a cornerstone of the country’s manufacturing export economy, has suffered a dramatic decline.

Over the past three years, the sector has lost $8bn in export revenues and shed around 350,000 jobs. That’s according to industry data cited this week by local business daily Dunya and is a confirmation of the validity of the stark woes on the horizon reported two years ago as companies complained about their struggle to keep their heads above water.

The contraction comes despite overall resilience in Turkey’s broader export performance. Rising labour and energy costs, currency volatility and weakening demand from European markets have reportedly eroded competitiveness in one of the country’s most labour-intensive industries.

Manufacturers complain that orders have increasingly shifted to lower-cost rivals across Asia and North Africa, leaving Turkish producers struggling to maintain market share.

The share of labour in the costs of Turkish textile producers has hit 15-17%, while in readymade clothing it has climbed to around 50%, Ahmet Fikret Kileci, president of the Southeastern Anatolia Textile and Raw Materials Exporters’ Association told Dunya.

“When labour accounts for 50% of the cost of turning out a product, you simply cannot compete with a country where the total labour cost is $100, $200, or $300,” he said.

The employment impact of the sector contraction has been severe. The textile and garment sector, which has long provided jobs for more than a million workers in Turkey, has seen its workforce shrink below that threshold for the first time in decades. Factory closures and downsizing have rippled through key production hubs, raising concerns about the long-term sustainability of the industry.

In June 2022, total employment in the textile and readymade garment sector stood at 1.25mn people, but today the figure stands at just 902,000, according to the reported remarks of Kileci.

“This means a loss of roughly 350,000 jobs over three years. Some of this reduction comes from efficiency gains through technology, but there are also businesses that have shut down entirely. On the readymade garment side, which is more labour-intensive, the decline has been particularly severe,” Kilerci was further quoted as saying.

Industry leaders are calling for targeted policy support, including measures to stabilise input costs, improve access to finance and encourage investment in higher-value production. Without such steps, analysts warn that Turkey risks losing one of its traditional export engines, with lasting consequences for both trade and employment.