Almost 32 percent Indians love denim

Almost 32 per cent of Indians love or enjoy wearing denims and the per capita consumption of denims in India is 0.3 pairs, lower than that of China (2 pairs) and the US (8 pairs). This interesting revelation came to the fore at a two-day global summit on denims and jeans, ‘Denims: A Democracy in Fashion’ by J. Berrye Worsham, president and CEO of US-based Cotton Inc. The conference was held at IIM Ahmedabad.

Worsham talked about how the growth of denim in the US had slowed down but in China, India and Latin America it is likely to see tremendous growth. Close to 1.9 billion units of denim jeans were sold in the world in 2015 and by 2021 the yearly sales of jeans will cross 2 billion units. Nearly 71 per cent people in Europe and Latin America love to wear denim, 70 per cent in the US, 58 per cent in China and 57 per cent in Japan.

Aamir Akhtar, CEO, Arvind, cautioned denim manufacturers not to get into a comfort zone because consumers may not stay with denims always. He also talked of how China was losing its sheen and India could now fill that gap in exports. Pankaj Chandra, Former Director, IIM Bangalore requested for new technology and skills in the textile sector. He asserted that the textile sector had seen the ‘fewest startups in the last three years among the five major sectors in the country that provide maximum employment’.

The denims industry is growing at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 13-15 per cent. India produces over 800 million metres per annum (mpa) of denim, out of which 550 mpa is used up for domestic consumption while 250 mpa is exported.