A landmark report is forcing a reckoning across the global fashion industry. Cotton T-shirt import prices paid by EU buyers have declined in real terms for more than two decades — and garment workers in Bangladesh are bearing the cost. The investigation, published by Swiss watchdog Public Eye and the Clean Clothes Campaign, challenges fashion brands' claims that they can champion living wages while still demanding ever-cheaper basics.
Two Decades of Real Price Decline
The EU is the world's largest import market for cotton T-shirts. Between 2001 and 2024, the average EU import price rose only modestly — from $2.15 to $2.67 per shirt in nominal terms. Adjusted for inflation, this amounts to a real decline of roughly 3.1% per year, effectively halving the product's value over the period.
Bangladesh supplies approximately 61% of EU cotton T-shirt imports. In 2024, the average import price from Bangladesh was just $2.06 per shirt — below the EU average. The report's central question follows directly: if buyers are not paying more in real terms, who absorbs the difference?
Six Major Brands Under the Microscope
Trade data shows that six retailers — Bestseller, Primark, H&M Group, Inditex (Zara), LPP, and Fast Retailing (UNIQLO) — purchased roughly one-fifth of Bangladesh's cotton T-shirt exports in 2025. The report compares pricing by kilogram to account for garment weight variations across product lines.
Fast Retailing paid the highest average at $16.95/kg, while LPP paid the lowest at $10.11/kg. The EU-wide average sits at approximately $16/kg; Bangladesh's average is around $13/kg. Across all six companies, real purchase prices declined from 2021 to 2025 after adjusting for inflation.
All brands except Fast Retailing disputed the report's figures. The report places H&M's average at $12.82/kg, ranking it fourth among the six brands. H&M stated those figures "do not match those in our internal systems," while Primark, Inditex, Bestseller, and LPP cited product mix shifts, efficiency gains, and cotton cost fluctuations.
Factory Workers Absorb the Cost
Researchers interviewed nine pricing specialists and managers, three buying-house representatives, and six factory managers across Bangladesh. The picture is one of highly constrained negotiation, with buyers systematically insisting on fixed price targets. Factories accept unsustainable deals simply to stay operational.
Bangladesh's garment minimum wage stands at approximately $105 per month — among the lowest in major exporting countries — while a family's cost of living in Dhaka is nearly four times higher. Wages account for only about 12% of a T-shirt's export price. One factory merchandiser told researchers that production targets have risen from 200 to 250 pieces per hour just to maintain profitability.
Public Eye and the Clean Clothes Campaign propose a minimum purchasing price of $18/kg as an immediate benchmark, rising to $30/kg over the medium term to support a structural transition toward living wages. Kalpona Akter of the Bangladesh Garment and Industrial Workers Federation stated that brands "actively contribute to the continuation of poverty wages by their downward pricing policy." For the latest developments across global garment supply chains, follow our textile news section on textilezon.com.
Frequently Asked Questions
What did the Public Eye and Clean Clothes Campaign report find?
The report found that EU import prices for cotton T-shirts fell by approximately 3.1% per year in real terms between 2001 and 2024. This sustained decline effectively halved the product's real value, despite nominal prices rising only modestly from $2.15 to $2.67 per shirt.
Which brands were analyzed in the Bangladesh pricing data?
The report examined six brands: Bestseller, Primark, H&M Group, Inditex (Zara), LPP, and Fast Retailing (UNIQLO). Fast Retailing paid the highest average at $16.95/kg, while LPP paid the lowest at $10.11/kg.
What minimum purchasing price do the NGOs recommend?
The organizations recommend an immediate purchasing minimum of $18/kg for cotton T-shirts. The medium-term target rises to $30/kg to support a structural transition toward living wages across garment supply chains.
This report's evidence makes clear that sustained real price declines at the EU import level directly suppress wages and intensify workloads for garment workers across Bangladesh. Brands with public sustainability commitments face mounting pressure to align purchasing practices with stated values and treat minimum price benchmarks as structural obligations, not voluntary pledges.
