Turkey’s textile and apparel industry is facing one of its toughest periods in recent decades. According to official data shared by Ömer Fethi Gürer, Member of Parliament from the CHP, a total of 2,781 textile and garment enterprises shut down in the first eight months of 2025—resulting in over 58,000 workers losing their jobs.
Gürer emphasized that the figures reveal not only a market slowdown but a structural collapse accelerating across one of Turkey’s most critical industrial sectors. Rising production costs, currency volatility, raw-material shortages, and heavy dependence on imported cotton continue to push manufacturers to the brink.
Between January and August 2025, the number of operating facilities dropped sharply:
- Textile manufacturing: down by 437 units
- Garment manufacturing: down by 2,344 units
The crisis has not spared large factories either. Several major facilities with 500 to more than 1,000 employees have closed their doors, revealing the depth of the sector’s challenges.
Bankruptcy protection filings are also rising. In 2025 alone, 289 textile companies applied for concordato, while many others have shifted production to countries such as Egypt, seeking lower costs and more stable operating conditions. Industry representatives cite soaring energy prices, currency instability, tightening credit conditions, high interest rates, and shrinking demand as key stress points.
Cotton Supply Chain Strains
The situation is equally alarming in the cotton supply chain. Turkey imported 788,000 tons of cotton between January and August 2025, costing more than USD 1.3 billion. Meanwhile, domestic production continues to decline, as farmers abandon cotton due to low profitability.
Gürer warned that the crisis is now affecting the entire value chain—from agriculture to manufacturing:
“Factories are shutting down and cotton production is collapsing. This clearly shows how interconnected our sectors are. Without immediate government support and measures to prevent the shift of production abroad, the textile industry will face a severe breakdown.”
