Textile Sector Review: $46B Export & 2030 Strategic Vision
Vietnam Textile and Garment: Overcoming Big Waves, Shaping the Long Run
Looking back at the 2021–2025 period, Vietnam’s textile and garment industry has both maintained its growth rhythm and gradually adjusted its structure, preparing for the road ahead.
Standing Firm Through Volatility The year 2025 concluded with textile and garment export turnover reaching approximately USD 46 billion, marking a cycle of recovery and restructuring for the industry after unprecedented “shocks.”
Sharing with Industry and Trade Newspaper, Mr. Vu Duc Giang – Chairman of the Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association (VITAS) – observed that looking from the 2021 benchmark, rarely has any export industry experienced as many “waves” as textiles. The Covid-19 pandemic disrupted global supply chains; the 2021–2022 period saw rapid but unstable demand recovery; the 2023–2024 period was marked by inflation, geopolitical conflicts, and protectionist trends shrinking the market; and entering 2025, new tariff policies continued to create immense pressure on orders and costs.
In that context, Vietnam’s textile and garment exports still maintained a relatively stable growth trajectory. From USD 35 billion in 2020, export turnover reached approximately USD 46 billion in 2025, with a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) for the 2021–2025 period reaching about 5.58%. In 2025 alone, export turnover increased by about 5.8% compared to 2024.
According to Mr. Vu Duc Giang, this result was achieved amidst increasing pressure from global brands’ policies and labor shifts across the industry. However, he emphasized that the export figure achieved is the result of the entire enterprise system’s efforts and the close support of all levels of government.
Adaptation and Structural Adjustment A prominent characteristic of the 2021–2025 period is the rapid adaptability of enterprises, demonstrated by adjusting production methods to new brand requirements, proactively restructuring products and markets, and investing in technology. To date, Vietnam’s textiles and garments have been exported to 138 markets worldwide.
Product Structure:
- Garments: Continue to account for the dominant share, approximately 80% of export turnover.
- Fiber/Yarn: Accounts for 9.4%.
- Fabric: Approximately 6%.
- The remainder comprises technical fabrics and accessories.
- Garment exports increased from USD 27.8 billion (2020) to about USD 36.6 billion (2025). Many high-value items such as T-shirts, jackets, and trousers maintain a turnover of over USD 1 billion each per year.
Notably, the product structure has shifted clearly towards groups with higher technical content, design, and environmental factors. The trend of “Greening, Digitizing, and Fashionizing” is no longer just an orientation but has become a condition for enterprises to survive in the global supply chain.
Along with turnover growth, the industry’s trade surplus also remained high. The trade surplus value increased from USD 15.5 billion in 2020 to approximately USD 21 billion in 2025—the highest level ever—reflecting efforts to increase the use of domestic raw materials and domestic chain linkages.
From the corporate perspective, Mr. Le Tien Truong – Chairman of the Vietnam National Textile and Garment Group (Vinatex) – stated that 2025 was a successful year for the group, as business efficiency returned to the peak levels of 2021 but in a much more difficult context. “We utilized the 90-day window before tariffs were officially applied very well, creating a strong wave of growth in May, June, and July, contributing nearly 30% of the efficiency for the whole year,” Mr. Truong shared.
Shaping the Long-Term Growth Model Entering 2026, the market “picture” is forecast to continue facing many challenges. Global trade is slowing down; demand from the US, China, and the EU has not recovered strongly; tariffs and technical/environmental barriers are becoming denser. However, inflation and interest rates are forecast to decrease, and energy prices are more stable, creating certain room for enterprises.
According to Dr. Can Van Luc – Chief Economist at BIDV, the biggest risk to the textile industry remains prolonged tariffs and weak demand. However, the industry has 3 advantages: falling inflation and interest rates; strong digital and green transformation; and better adaptability of enterprises compared to previous crisis periods.
In that context, the industry’s growth can no longer rely on expanding scale. Mr. Vu Duc Giang stated that from 2026, the textile industry will persist with three strategic pillars:
- Diversifying markets, customers, and products.
- Investing strongly in domestic raw material supply.
- Deeply applying automation, AI, robotization, and digital transformation.
Targets:
- 2026 Export Target: USD 48 – 49 billion.
- 2030 Goal: Towards approximately USD 64.5 billion.
Along with this is the requirement to shift the production model. Vietnamese textile enterprises are gradually shifting from processing (CMT) to FOB, ODM, and even OBM in some segments, being more proactive from design and raw materials to logistics and warehouse management in import markets. “Any enterprise that invests in green standards, robotization, and AI will enter the market-leading group,” Mr. Giang emphasized.
From the perspective of state management, Mr. Vu Ba Phu – Director of the Vietnam Trade Promotion Agency (Vietrade, MOIT) – acknowledged that in the long term, there is a requirement for deeper restructuring of the textile industry. Beyond autonomy in raw materials and accessories, the textile industry needs to step-by-step build a Textile-Fashion Ecosystem, from dyeing industrial zones, human resource training, and R&D to brand building. “According to experts, the industry’s sustainable growth in the next 10 years will depend on three core factors: Labor productivity, technology mastery, and institutional/process reform,” Mr. Vu Ba Phu stated.
Strategic Vision 2030: The Vietnam textile and garment industry targets an export turnover of USD 64.5 billion by 2030, with an average growth rate of 6.5 – 7% per year. The domestic market development aims to reach a scale of USD 8 – 9 billion. The strategic focus is “Greening – Digitizing,” increasing the localization rate to over 60%, and building strong Vietnamese fashion brands.
