Global Fibre Production Hits a Record 139 Million Tonnes, and the Growth Is Fossil

Global fibre production reached 139 million tonnes in 2025, according to Textile Exchange’s Materials Market Report 2026, published on 22 September.

That is 17 kilograms for every person on earth. Five of the seven additional million tonnes came from new fossil-based fibre, which rose from 81 to 86 million tonnes. If current trends hold, Textile Exchange expects 172 million tonnes by 2030.

• Polyester rose from 77.7 to 82.5 million tonnes, 59 percent of all fibre, and 72.8 million tonnes of it was virgin and fossil.
• Recycled polyester grew to 9.7 million tonnes but held at around 12 percent. Ninety-seven percent of it came from plastic bottles, and fibre made from old clothes was about 0.3 percent of all polyester.
• Wool held at about one million tonnes while its share fell from 0.9 to 0.7 percent. Animal fibres dropped 15.4 percent, cashmere to 28,010 tonnes, and silk stood at 90,000 tonnes.
• Emissions from fibre and raw materials reached around 325 million tonnes of CO2e, 30 percent above 2019, against the industry’s goal of cutting them by 45 percent by 2030.

● Why it matters

The report is the clearest measure yet of the distance between the fashion industry’s circular language and its material reality.

• The growth is fossil, not circular. Five of the seven additional million tonnes were new fossil fibre. Recycling grew, but slower than the problem.
• Recycled mostly means bottles. Almost all recycled polyester is plastic packaging turned into clothing. A closed loop from garment to garment remains a fraction of a percent.
• The leaders and the market are moving apart. The 384 companies in Textile Exchange’s Benchmark cut their virgin fossil polyester from 0.54 to 0.48 million tonnes. Worldwide, it rose by seven percent to 73 million tonnes in the same year.
• Natural fibre is becoming a measurable scarcity. At 0.7 percent for wool, 0.1 percent for silk and 0.02 percent for cashmere, the materials that make a garment worth keeping are a shrinking fraction of what the world wears.
• The policy debate is aimed at the wrong end. In May, nearly 70 fashion companies asked governments to cut taxes on resale and repair. The data shows where the volume actually enters: at the beginning, as new fossil fibre.
• The cost is carried forward. Record emissions are a debt handed to the next generations. Well Living, a good life for those who come after us, is decided by what we choose to produce today.

The Reading on what the shift means for natural fibre, recycling and the industry’s call for tax relief follows.