According to Vietnam Customs statistics, Vietnam's textile and apparel exports reached $43.4 billion in 2022, an increase of 11% year-on-year. Despite the data showing growth, Vietnam's textile and garment export orders and value have declined significantly since the fourth quarter of 2022 due to weaker demand in key export markets including the US and the EU.

In addition, Vietnamese textile and garment producers continue to face other production and export challenges, including rising raw material and logistics costs (Russia-Ukraine conflict and pandemic), sharp fluctuations in international cotton prices, Vietnam's tightening monetary policy to control inflation, and increasing labor costs.

According to the report of the Vietnam Textile and Garment Association, in the first quarter of 2023, Vietnam's textile export orders fell by 25-27% year-on-year. In response to the decline in orders, many Vietnamese textile and garment companies have reduced their operating rates, resulting in a large number of workers losing their jobs. The industry expects this downward trend to continue until at least the third quarter of 2023. Still, the Vietnam Textile and Garment Association has set an export target of $46 billion for 2023, but only if there is a recovery in the economy and consumption in major export markets.

In 2022, Vietnam's textile industry will add about 100,000 spindles, bringing the total number of textile mills to about 110, half of which are located in the south, 40% in the north and 10% in the center. According to Vietnam Customs statistics, Vietnam's yarn exports in 2022 were 1.6 million tons, down nearly 19% year-on-year, and exports were $4.7 billion, down 16% year-on-year. A small increase in exports to Bangladesh failed to offset large declines in exports to China and South Korea.

In 2022, cotton yarn exports accounted for 56% of all yarn exports in Vietnam, but cotton yarn exports were only 866,000 tons, down 24% year-on-year, and exports were $2.9 billion, down 16% year-on-year. The increase in cotton yarn exports in the first five months of 2022 failed to offset the decrease in the remaining period. The decline in global demand for textiles and clothing has reduced Vietnam's demand for raw materials such as cotton and cotton yarn. According to the Vietnamese industry news, affected by the decline in orders and cotton yarn prices, the opening probability of most spinning mills in Vietnam has dropped to 50-70%, this trend is expected to continue until the first quarter of 2023, and the rebound needs to see the recovery of the global economy.

Data show that in 2021/22, Vietnam exported 788,000 tons of cotton yarn to China, a decrease of 20%, and in the first half of 2020/23, it exported 280,000 tons of cotton yarn to China, a decrease of 35%. Vietnam's cotton consumption is expected to decline in 2022/23 due to a decrease in China's import demand for cotton yarn. In 2023/24, on the premise of economic and consumption recovery, Vietnam's cotton consumption is expected to increase slightly by 3% to 6.5 million bales.