Fashion Spending Worldwide: 2.5% in the U.S., 5.3% in China – Modaes Global

Markets

17 sep 2026 – 05:00

The share of the fashion budget varies significantly from continent to continent. Among China, the European Union, and the United States—the three leading regions in the global fashion market—the proportion of the consumer budget allocated to clothing and footwear can vary by as much as a factor of two. According to the latest available data, this share stands at 5.3% in China, 4.1% in the European Union, and just 2.5% in the United States.

China, the market with the lowest gross domestic product (GDP) per capita, is where families make the greatest effort to purchase fashion items. On average, in 2024, each consumer spent 1,554 yuan (about $200) on clothing and footwear, accounting for 5.3% of their annual spending, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics of China

Meanwhile, consumer spending in the European Union stood at 4.1% in 2024. Of the total, the apparel segment accounted for 3.3% of total spending, while footwear accounted for 0.8%, according to figures from Eurostat

Per capita spending in the United States stood at 2.5% in 2024

Per-capita spending in the United States—which combines spending on fashion and related services— stood at 2.5% in 2024, according to theU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

This is the lowest figure among the three regions, even though the United States has the highest GDP per capita, at $90,026 meanwhile, has $13,862 per capita for the same indicator, while the European Union, in second place, stands at $47,089

As the most advanced economy, the U .S. is also the market where consumers allocate the largest share of their spending to housing —33.4% of their total budget—and the one with the greatest variation in spending by category

Growth Forecasts

The latest report from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), published in July, projects that global economic growth will stand at 3.0% in 2026 and will see a slight uptick to 3.4% in 2027, according to the latest World Economic Outlook reports

The economic organization forecasts 1.7% growth for the U.S. for 2026 as a whole, with an acceleration of 0 .2 percentage points for the following year. China’s growth is more than double that of the United States, with an expected year-over-year increase of 4.6%, although the forecast for 2027 has been revised downward by 0.5 percentage points. The eurozone, which has the lowest forecast of the three regions, is projected to grow 0.9% year-over-year in 2026 and 1.2% in 2027.