2025

Brief Report on the Import and Export of Sewing Machinery Industry from January to April 2025

In April 2025, the United States launched a "reciprocal tariff war" globally, imposing high tariffs on Chinese products. This resulted in a year-on-year decline in exports of Chinese sewing machinery to the US and other regional markets, and a month-on-month decline in exports to Vietnam and Bangladesh. However, driven by overseas apparel "export grabbing", China's sewing machinery exports still showed relatively rapid year-on-year growth. In April, the industry's sewing machinery exports reached US\$342 million, a year-on-year increase of 25.70% and a month-on-month decrease of 1.11%.

Export Overview

According to data from the General Administration of Customs, from January to April 2025, China's cumulative exports of sewing machinery products reached US\$1.277 billion, a year-on-year increase of 27.94%. Among them, exports of industrial sewing machines reached 1.66 million units, with export value of US\$574 million, representing year-on-year increases of 21.62% and 28.12% respectively; embroidery machine exports reached 46,000 units, with export value of US\$289 million, representing year-on-year increases of 45.20% and 62.34% respectively. Except for household sewing machines, exports of various industrial sewing machines and their components showed growth to varying degrees.

China's Sewing Machinery Product Exports from January to April 2025

(Unit: Units, kg, USD, %)

Monthly Export Value of China's Sewing Machinery Industry

In April, China's sewing machinery product exports reached US\$342 million, a year-on-year increase of 25.70% and a month-on-month decrease of 1.11%. Among them, exports of industrial sewing machines reached 425,700 units, with export value of US\$148 million, representing year-on-year increases of 18.25% and 23.38% respectively, and month-on-month decreases of 5.10% and 6.78% respectively. Except for household sewing machines, exports of various industrial sewing machines and their components also showed growth to varying degrees.

China's Sewing Machinery Product Exports in April 2025

(Unit: Units, kg, USD, %)

Overseas Export Market Situation

From January to April 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 various regional markets, China's exports to the "Belt and Road" market reached US\$932 million, a year-on-year increase of 33.01%, accounting for 72.99% of the industry's total exports, an increase of 2.78 percentage points compared to the same period last year; exports to the RCEP market reached US\$403 million, a year-on-year increase of 33.66%, accounting for 31.59% of the industry's total exports, an increase of 1.35 percentage points compared to the same period last year; exports to the South Asian market reached US\$383 million, a year-on-year increase of 48.36%, accounting for 29.99% of the industry's total exports, an increase of 4.13 percentage points compared to the same period last year; exports to the ASEAN market reached US\$363 million, a year-on-year increase of 37.74%; exports to the West Asian market reached US\$78.74 million, a year-on-year decrease of 6.35%; exports to the North African market reached US\$64.96 million, a year-on-year increase of 60.48%; exports to the EU market reached US\$44.65 million, a year-on-year increase of 3.86%; exports to the East Asian market reached US\$37.4 million, a year-on-year increase of 10.80%; exports to the Central Asian market reached US\$25.15 million, a year-on-year decrease of 1.12%.

China's Sewing Machinery Product Exports to Major Continents from January to April 2025

China's Sewing Machinery Product Exports to Major Markets from January to April 2025

Specifically, from January to April, among the 195 countries and regions to which China exported sewing machinery products, nearly 60% of the markets saw year-on-year growth in exports. The top six export markets (India, Vietnam, Pakistan, Cambodia, Bangladesh, and Indonesia) all saw significant year-on-year growth of over 40%. Among the top 20 export markets, only 4 markets saw a year-on-year decline in exports. Among them, 11 markets saw a year-on-year increase of over 20%, and 8 markets saw a year-on-year increase of over 40%. Exports to Egypt more than doubled. Among the top 20 export markets, three were in Africa: Egypt, Nigeria, and Algeria.

India remains China's largest export market for sewing equipment. From January to April, China's cumulative exports of sewing machinery products to India reached US\$234 million, a year-on-year increase of 47.53%, accounting for 18.36% of China's total industry exports; exports to Vietnam reached US\$164 million, a year-on-year increase of 49.98%, accounting for 12.80% of China's total industry exports; exports to Pakistan reached US\$72.89 million, a year-on-year increase of 43.84%, accounting for 5.71% of China's total industry exports. In addition, China's exports of sewing machinery products to ASEAN markets such as Cambodia, Indonesia, Thailand, and Myanmar; South Asian markets such as Bangladesh; African markets such as Egypt, Nigeria, Algeria, Morocco, Kenya, Ghana, South Africa, and Tanzania; and Latin American markets such as Brazil, Colombia, Peru, and Argentina all showed year-on-year growth. Exports to Egypt, Argentina, the Dominican Republic, and Panama more than doubled. However, exports to regional markets such as Russia, Malaysia, the UAE, Mexico, and the Philippines, as well as Middle Eastern markets such as Iran and Iraq, and Central Asian markets such as Kyrgyzstan, showed year-on-year declines.

China's Sewing Machinery Industry's Major Export Markets from January to April 2025

In April, China's exports of sewing machinery products to major regional markets such as South Asia, ASEAN, and Africa all showed year-on-year growth exceeding double digits. Exports to ASEAN reached US\$100 million, a year-on-year increase of 28.80%; exports to South Asia reached US\$100 million, a year-on-year increase of 46.10%. Exports to India reached US\$63.63 million, a year-on-year increase of 50.79% and a month-on-month increase of 12.14%; exports to Vietnam reached US\$42.85 million, a year-on-year increase of 24.08% and a month-on-month decrease of 17.19%. In addition, China's exports of sewing machinery to markets such as Pakistan, Cambodia, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Russia, Egypt, Thailand, Myanmar, Nigeria, Algeria, Colombia, Peru, Uzbekistan, Sri Lanka, Kenya, Germany, and Poland all showed year-on-year growth; while exports to markets such as Brazil, the United States, Malaysia, Japan, Turkey, Mexico, the UAE, Iran, the Philippines, Hong Kong, Iraq, and the Netherlands all showed varying degrees of year-on-year decline.

China's Sewing Machinery Product Exports to Major Markets in April 2025

In April, due to tariff impacts, the United States fell to the eighth largest export market for the industry. China's exports of sewing machinery products to the US market reached US\$9.74 million, a year-on-year decrease of 2.47% and a month-on-month decrease of 13.04%. Among them, exports of industrial sewing machines, pre- and post-sewing equipment, and sewing machine parts to the US all showed significant year-on-year declines, while exports of embroidery machines to the US showed an increase in both volume and price (see table below).

China's Sewing Machinery Product Exports to the US Market in April 2025

Import Overview

According to the latest data from the Customs, from January to April 2025, China's total imports of sewing machinery products reached nearly US\$260 million, a year-on-year increase of 52.63%. Among the major product categories, imports of pre- and post-sewing equipment, embroidery machines, and household sewing machines showed significant growth, while imports of industrial sewing machines and sewing machine parts declined. Specifically, imports of industrial sewing machines totaled 9,931 units, with a value of US\$23.9 million, down 42.28% and 36.93% year-on-year respectively; imports of pre- and post-sewing equipment totaled 9,269 units, with a value of US\$197 million, up 92.54% and 102.20% year-on-year respectively; imports of sewing machine parts reached US\$28.33 million, down 1.27% year-on-year; imports of embroidery machines totaled 320 units, with a value of US\$6.07 million, up 80.79% and 76.12% year-on-year respectively; imports of household sewing machines totaled 46,000 units, with a value of US\$4.78 million, up 33.49% and 64.59% year-on-year respectively.

In April, China's imports of sewing machinery products reached US\$70.37 million, a year-on-year increase of 148.14% and a month-on-month increase of 2.43%. Among them, imports of industrial sewing machines totaled 2,997 units, with a value of US\$7.65 million, down 53.22% and 14.77% year-on-year respectively, and up 9.98% and 34.02% month-on-month respectively; imports of pre- and post-sewing equipment totaled 3,148 units, with a value of US\$51.32 million, up 424.67% and 477.44% year-on-year respectively (mainly due to the low base in the same period last year); imports of sewing machine parts reached US\$7.43 million, down 14.26% year-on-year; imports of embroidery machines totaled 85 units, with a value of US\$2.88 million, up 30.77% and 2107.12% year-on-year respectively (mainly due to the low base in the same period last year).

Monthly Import Value of Sewing Machinery in China