According to the Textile Exchange's 2026 Materials Market Report, global textile fiber production reached a historic high of 139 million tons in 2025, continuing to grow from 132 million tons the previous year, with the increase driven mainly by virgin fossil-based fibers. Among them, virgin fossil-based fiber production rose from 81 million tons in 2024 to 86 million tons; polyester remained dominant, with production increasing from 77.7 million tons to 82.5 million tons, accounting for 59% of global fiber production, of which 72.8 million tons (88%) was virgin fossil-based polyester.

Key Points

  • Global textile fiber production totaled 139 million tons in 2025, with virgin fossil-based fibers rising from 81 million tons to 86 million tons.
  • Polyester production reached 82.5 million tons, accounting for 59% of global fiber production, of which 88% was virgin fossil-based.
  • Textile-to-textile recycled fibers accounted for only 0.76% of global fiber production, compared with 0.61% in 2021.

In contrast to the continued expansion of virgin polyester is the slow growth of recycled polyester. In 2025, recycled polyester production edged up only from about 9.4 million tons to 9.7 million tons, with about 97% of its feedstock still coming from plastic bottles rather than discarded textiles. Textile-to-textile recycled fiber production across all fiber categories accounted for only 0.76% of total global fiber production, a limited improvement from 0.61% in 2021.

This pattern means that although bottle-based recycled polyester can reduce reliance on virgin fossil feedstocks, it cannot build a closed-loop textile system on its own. The long-term circularity challenge facing the industry is not simply scaling up the volume of recycled polyester, but developing at scale fiber-to-fiber recycling capacity that can convert textile waste back into textile raw materials.

On the demand side, the market also supports polyester's core position. According to Grand View Research data, the global polyester apparel fiber market was worth about US$43 billion in 2025 and is expected to approach US$60 billion by 2033, with a compound annual growth rate of 4.3%. Driven by population growth, urbanization, and continuously expanding apparel consumption, the broader apparel fiber market is also expanding, with synthetic fibers holding the largest revenue share of the apparel fiber market in 2025 due to their cost, durability, and versatility.

For textile manufacturers, this poses a dual challenge: polyester is difficult to remove from supply chains because of its performance, scalability, and commercial advantages, but the continued growth of virgin fossil-based polyester will further increase pressure on brands and suppliers to accelerate the adoption of recycled feedstocks, improve textile recycling systems, and invest in scalable polyester apparel recycling technologies.

(Source: Textile Today)

Source: Virgin polyester rises 7%, global fiber output hits 139m tons · Originally published on 2026-10-07