Changes in consumer habits with the increasing shift of Greek households, and especially young people, to Chinese online retail platforms such as Temu and Shein, have started to deal a blow to domestic and international brands, executives of the domestic clothing market tell Kathimerini, although retail sales in Greece recorded a marginal increase in the first half.
“At international exhibitions, everyone admits that the horizon ahead is cloudy,” an apparel industry executive said, capturing the mood prevailing in the sector after visits to recent exhibitions abroad.
According to a recent announcement by Greek Fashion, the Greek association of knitting and ready-to-wear garment businesses, in the first half of 2025 the clothing-textile sector appears to continue to face intense pressure.
Retail sales in the domestic market remain sluggish and are a concern for all businesses targeting the Greek market. Therefore, according to the association, retail clothing sales in the domestic market recorded a marginal increase of 0.6%, “clearly lower than inflation.” The value of retail clothing sales amounted to 1.68 billion euros in the first half of 2025, compared to €1.67 billion in the first half of last year.
“There is a broader pressure on the market, with sales being ‘frozen.’ The increase is lower than inflation, therefore there is a decrease in sales volumes,” report sources from the association.
Greek clothing exports are also down. Exports of the clothing-textile sector recorded a decrease of 4.6%, which is due exclusively to the decrease in cotton exports. With this data, the total value of exports in the first half of 2025 amounted to €836 million, compared to €876 million in 2024. Thanks to the good performance of the two-month period of May-June, clothing exports showed a slight increase of 1.3% and reached €400 million. Textile exports also recorded an increase, in contrast to cotton exports, which shrank by 22%.
At the same time, however, imports also recorded an increase of 6.5%. Consequently, for the entire clothing-textile sector, these amounted to €1.69 billion in value in 2025 compared to €1.6 billion in the same period last year. The increase in textile imports was greater, resulting in an increase of 10%, while clothing imports rose to 6.2%.
However, as market executives observe, the penetration of Chinese e-commerce platforms in Greek households is constantly increasing, with many seeing an effect even in visits to brick-and-mortar stores on high streets.
