First Quarter 2025: China Sewing Machinery Industry Import and Export Report

In the first quarter of 2025, sustained demand from overseas markets such as South Asia, ASEAN, Africa, and Latin America drove the growth of industrial sewing equipment exports in the sewing machinery industry. By the end of March, China’s cumulative export value of sewing machinery products reached $935 million, a year-on-year increase of 28.87%. The export scale reached a record high for the same period in history, and the industry’s foreign trade got off to a generally stable start. In March alone, the industry’s export of sewing machinery products reached $346 million, a year-on-year increase of 46.05% and a month-on-month increase of 86.35%. The combination of a low base effect and rush exports were the main factors driving the increase in export value this month.

Export Overview

According to data from the General Administration of Customs: In January-March 2025, China’s cumulative export value of sewing machinery products was $935 million, a year-on-year increase of 28.87%. Among them, the export volume of industrial sewing machines was 1.24 million units, with an export value of $426 million, a year-on-year increase of 22.86% and 29.89% respectively; the export volume of embroidery machines was 25,500 units, with an export value of $201 million, a year-on-year increase of 19.79% and 57.42% respectively. Except for household sewing machines, the export value of various types of industrial sewing machines and their parts generally showed different degrees of growth.

Table: China Sewing Machinery Product Export Situation in January-March 2025 (Units: Units, Kilograms,USD, %)

Table: Monthly Export Value of China’s Sewing Machinery Industry

In March, China’s export of sewing machinery products was $346 million, a year-on-year increase of 46.05% and a month-on-month increase of 86.35%. The combination of a low base effect and rush exports were the main factors driving the increase in export value this month. Among them, the export volume of industrial sewing machines was 450,000 units, with an export value of $159 million, a year-on-year increase of 45.02% and 47.07% respectively, and a month-on-month increase of 103.46% and 94.48% respectively. Except for household sewing machines, the export value of various types of industrial sewing machines and their parts also showed different degrees of growth in February.

Table: China Sewing Machinery Product Export Situation in March 2025 (Units: Units, Kilograms, USD, %)

Overseas Export Market Situation

    In January-March 2025, China’s exports of sewing machinery products to the four major key markets of Asia, Africa, Latin America, and North America all showed significant growth, while exports to Europe and Oceania continued to decline year-on-year. Among the regional markets, China’s export value to the “Belt and Road” market was $683 million, a year-on-year increase of 35.22%, accounting for 73.06% of the industry’s export value, an increase of 3.43 percentage points compared with the same period last year; the export value to the RCEP market was $295 million, a year-on-year increase of 37.96%, accounting for 31.52% of the industry’s export value, an increase of 2.08 percentage points compared with the same period last year; exports to the South Asian market were $280 million, a year-on-year increase of 49.22%, accounting for 30.00% of the industry’s export value, an increase of 4.09 percentage points compared with the same period last year; exports to the ASEAN market were $263 million, a year-on-year increase of 41.64%; exports to the West Asian market were $62.95 million, a year-on-year decrease of 0.69%; exports to the North African market were $49.31 million, a year-on-year increase of 65.68%; exports to the EU market were $32.74 million, a year-on-year increase of 2.76%; exports to the East Asian market were $29.57 million, a year-on-year increase of 19.72%; exports to the Central Asian market were $17.83 million, a year-on-year decrease of 3.79%.

Table: China’s Sewing Machinery Product Exports to Major Continents in January-March 2025

Specifically, from the perspective of countries, among the 192 countries and regions to which China exported sewing machinery products in January-March, nearly 60% of the markets saw positive year-on-year growth in export value. The top six export markets in the industry (India, Vietnam, Pakistan, Cambodia, Bangladesh, and Indonesia) all showed significant year-on-year growth in export value. Among the top 20 export markets, only 4 markets saw a year-on-year decrease in export value. Among them, 10 markets saw a year-on-year increase of more than 30% in export value, and 6 markets saw a year-on-year increase of more than 50% in export value. Exports to Egypt doubled. Among the top 20 export markets in the industry, the African market occupies four seats, namely Egypt, Algeria, Nigeria, and Morocco.

Table: China’s Sewing Machinery Product Exports to Major Markets in January-March 2025

India remains China’s largest export market for sewing equipment. In January-March, China’s cumulative exports of sewing machinery products to India were $171 million, a year-on-year increase of 46.36%, accounting for 18.28% of China’s industry export value; exports to Vietnam were $121 million, a year-on-year increase of 62.32%, accounting for 12.93% of China’s industry export value; exports to Pakistan were $52.88 million, a year-on-year increase of 52.08%, accounting for 5.66% of China’s industry export value. In addition, China’s exports of sewing machinery products to ASEAN markets such as Cambodia, Indonesia, Thailand, and Myanmar, African markets such as Egypt, Algeria, Nigeria, Morocco, Kenya, and Ghana, and Latin American markets such as Brazil, Colombia, Peru, and Argentina, as well as regional markets such as the United States, Japan, and Singapore, all showed year-on-year growth in export value. Among them, exports to markets such as Egypt, Argentina, Portugal, New Zealand, and Honduras all doubled year-on-year. However, exports of sewing machinery products to regional markets such as Russia, the United Arab Emirates, Malaysia, Mexico, and the Philippines, as well as Middle Eastern markets such as Iran and Iraq, and Central Asian regional markets such as Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan, showed a year-on-year decline.

Table: China’s Sewing Machinery Industry Exports to Major Markets in January-March 2025

In March alone, China’s exports of sewing machinery products to major regional markets such as South Asia, ASEAN, East Asia, Africa, Central and Eastern Europe, and Central Asia all showed double-digit year-on-year growth. Among them, exports to ASEAN were $100 million, a year-on-year increase of 32.38%; exports to South Asia were $96.27 million, a year-on-year increase of 86.18%. Exports to India were $56.74 million, a year-on-year increase of 93.17% and a month-on-month increase of 78.74%; exports to Vietnam were $51.74 million, a year-on-year increase of 52.06% and a month-on-month increase of 89.18%. In addition, China’s exports of sewing machinery to markets such as Cambodia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, the United States, Indonesia, Brazil, Japan, Singapore, Egypt, Russia, Nigeria, Colombia, and Algeria all showed year-on-year growth; while exports to markets such as Malaysia, Turkey, Thailand, the United Arab Emirates, Mexico, the Philippines, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Italy all showed varying degrees of year-on-year decline.

Table: China’s Sewing Machinery Product Exports to Major Markets in March 2025

Import Overview

According to the latest data from the customs, from January to March 2025, the cumulative import value of China’s sewing machinery products was nearly 190 million US dollars, a year - on - year increase of 33.55%. Among the major product categories, the import values of pre - sewing and post - sewing equipment and household sewing machines increased significantly, while the import values of industrial sewing machines and embroidery machines showed a decline. Among them, the import volume of industrial sewing machines was 6,934 units, with an import value of 16.25 million US dollars, a year - on - year decrease of 35.80% and 43.82% respectively; the import volume of pre - sewing and post - sewing equipment was 6,121 units, with an import value of 146 million US dollars, a year - on - year increase of 45.25% and 64.50% respectively; the import value of sewing machine parts was 20.9 million US dollars, a year - on - year increase of 4.35%; the import volume of embroidery machines was 235 units, a year - on - year increase of 109.82%, and the import value was 3.19 million US dollars, a year - on - year decrease of 3.72%; the import volume of household sewing machines was 32,000 units, with an import value of 3.69 million US dollars, a year - on - year increase of 155.71% and 206.84% respectively.

In March, the import value of China’s sewing machinery products was nearly 68.7 million US dollars, a year - on - year increase of 90.23% and a month - on - month increase of 11.97%. Among them, the import volume of industrial sewing machines was 2,725 units, with an import value of 5.71 million US dollars, a year - on - year decrease of 26.87% and 43.37% respectively, and a month - on - month increase of 5.46% and 4.47% respectively; the import volume of pre - sewing and post - sewing equipment was 4,354 units, with an import value of 53.52 million US dollars, a year - on - year increase of 312.70% and 225.50% respectively (mainly due to the low base in the same period); the import value of sewing machine parts was 7.03 million US dollars, a year - on - year decrease of 14.63%; the import volume of household sewing machines was 14,000 units, with an import value of nearly 1.7 million US dollars, a year - on - year increase of 105.43% and 160.77% respectively.

Publisher: KOLEEX News Editorial Department

Publication Date: May 7,2025