The Low Wages of Textile Workers

It's no secret that many garment workers in developing countries face harsh working conditions and low wages that are often insufficient to meet basic needs. Data from a report on the competitiveness of textile exporters, published in 2024 by the United States International Trade Commission, shows that average monthly wages for garment workers vary considerably around the world. Our infographic focuses on the main garment exporting countries where wages are lowest. Together, the nine selected countries accounted for around 60% of global apparel exports in 2022.

Pakistan and Bangladesh, the latter being the world's second-largest garment exporter behind China, have some of the lowest wages in the global textile industry, with manufacturing wages averaging between $135 and $140 per month in these two countries, according to the latest available data. Monthly wages are slightly higher but remain extremely low in the manufacturing industry in Myanmar ($161, 2020), Indonesia ($194, 2023), India ($195, 2023) and Cambodia ($256, 2021). China, which remains the world's largest exporter of garments at 24 percent of total exports in 2022, had an average monthly wage that was three to four times as high, but since these are wages for all manufacturing jobs, this figure may be skewed upwards by the country’s vast technology sector, where workers typically earn more than textile workers.

Even allowing for differences in the cost of living between countries, these wage levels remain incredibly low. The purchasing power of workers in Bangladesh, for example, is the lowest of the major garment-producing countries, with an average monthly income of around $400 adjusted for purchasing power parity (PPP). In Pakistan and Indonesia, it ranged from 517 to 576 dollars in 2023, while in China, adjusted for PPP, the average monthly wage in the manufacturing industry was 1,328 U.S. dollars in 2021.

In a note published in April, the Clean Clothes Campaign, a network of trade unions and NGOs operating in the textile industry, expressed concern about the possible impact of higher tariffs against garment-producing countries. “In many of the countries where high tariffs have been announced, such as Cambodia, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, workers are already paid on below-subsistence levels and have no savings to fall back on.” The initiative urges companies in the industry, particularly large multinationals, to resist the urge to offload the additional costs down the supply chain. Any such attempt, the organization warns, would results in workers cutting meals and increasing their debts, as they are already stretched to the limit.