Wool Week Facts and Figures

Wool Week is here! Now in it’s 6th year The Campaign for Wool, led by our global patron, His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales has helped to bring wool back from the brink of obscurity.  It’s been a resounding global success but there is still more work to do and promoting wool as the natural, renewable and biodegradable alternative to synthetic fibres remains as important as ever!

Here are some key facts about what the wool industry, supported by The Campaign for Wool has achieved:

90% of sales from British fashion brands and 50% of sales from interiors brands are made abroad – British style has never been so fashionable, and the ‘made in the UK’ label continues to be a deciding factor in global purchasing decisions

The biggest export markets for the British wool industry which is comprised of weavers, spinners, carpet manufacturers and fashion brands are Japan, the US and Germany with China quickly catching up.

Great Britain also has a large market in the export of contract upholstery for the transport sector, and wool is the chosen material for many new planes, trains and cars due to its incomparable safety record.

8,000 weavers are employed at 40 British mills.  This figure has risen by 25% in the past year as mills such as business such as Abraham Moon of Guiseley in Yorkshire continue to grow their export business around the world.

New companies such as Wool and The Gang are making traditional crafts such as knitting and crochet fashionable again and have seen fourfold increase in sales year on year.

Merino wool continues to attract the attention of the sportswear and next to skin market, thanks to its excellent ability to regulate body temperature and wick moisture away from the body.  Finisterre, the British cold water surfing brand, cycling leaders Rapha and Adidas are all embracing merino as a modern material ideally suited to the needs of their customers.

The British market for wool in interiors and apparel is currently worth £3bn

Wool still only represents 2% of all clothing sold, with oil based synthetic fibres still dominating.  As people become more environmentally aware and the price of oil rises, the potential for growth is enormous and we hope you’ll join us in the campaign to Live Naturally… and Choose Wool!