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In 2022, the estimated land used for the production of textile products purchased by EU households was 144.000 km2, or 323 m2 per person.
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The total land used to produce the textile products purchased by EU households in 2022 is estimated at 144.000 km2 – roughly twice the size of Czechia and about 323 m2 per person. This represents 15-17% of total land used to satisfy consumption by EU households.
Between 2010 and 2022, land use per person for textiles has remained relatively constant. After a drop in land use in 2020 and 2021, land use is rising slightly again. Comparing land use with the total apparent consumption of textiles in the EU in this period, a relative decoupling can be observed, as shown in the ETC/CE report 2025/X. While consumption per person increased by 15% between 2010 and 2022, land use only increased by 3%. This suggests that the land intensity of textile consumption – thus the amount of land used per volume of textiles – has decreased. However, these intensity gains seem to have slowed down in recent years.
Only 15% of this land use takes place in Europe itself. Over 85 % of land use is outside Europe, mostly related to (cotton) fibre production in China and India. Animal-based fibres, such as wool, also impact land use significantly.
Increased use, reuse, repair, and recycling of textiles would reduce land use because this would lower the demand for new textiles and, hence, the need for land use to produce raw materials such as cotton or wool.
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