Inditex (Zara, Massimo Dutti,...) abandons China for Morocco

The Spanish fashion distribution group has reduced its dependence on China in terms of supply by 2%, from 29% in 2022 to 27% in 2023. At the end of last year, about 48% of Inditex’s supplies came from Spain, Portugal, Turkey and Morocco. The remaining 52% came from India, Bangladesh, Vietnam, Cambodia, China and Pakistan, reports Modaes.

In 2023, Morocco has become the group’s main supplier, with 216 suppliers (+18%), surpassing Portugal (114 suppliers, -4%) and Turkey (186 suppliers, -7.5%). But in terms of the number of garment factories and workers, Turkey remains in the lead, with 847 and 330,926 respectively, compared to 348 and 94,563 for Morocco.

Despite this downgrading, China remains the group’s main supplier in Asia, with 367 suppliers and 1,304 garment workshops employing more than 580,200 workers at the end of 2023. It is followed by Bangladesh with 150 suppliers, 273 garment factories employing 965,797 workers; India with 122 suppliers and 146 garment factories employing 454,558 workers and Pakistan with 69 suppliers and 85 garment factories employing 497,524 workers.

Spain, for its part, provided 138 suppliers to the group in 2023 (-10%). The number of its garment factories also fell by 17%, as did the number of employees (-5%). Inditex presented record results this week with a 10.4% growth and a 30.3% increase in net profit.