Global Second-Hand Clothes Trade Monitor

Data source

Database: BACI international trade database (CEPII), which reconciles the exports and imports reported to UN Comtrade into one harmonized value and quantity per bilateral flow, at the HS 6-digit level. The monitor uses an HS 6309 extract of BACI for 2015–2024, with adjustments for outliers.
Product coverage: HS 6309 — Worn clothing and other worn articles: worn clothing, clothing accessories, blankets, household linen, furnishing articles, footwear and headgear showing signs of appreciable wear, presented in bulk, bales, sacks or similar packings. Rags (HS 6310) are not included.
Years available: 2015–2024. The latest year is based on fewer country reports and may be revised in later BACI releases.
Value unit: Current US dollars (FOB), displayed as $K / $M / $B.
Weight unit: Kilograms (BACI harmonized export weight), displayed in metric tonnes (t / kt / Mt).
Measure (value or weight): The Measure switch (Value / Weight) in the filter bar changes every figure on the map, legend, key figures, country panels and the Animate view to the selected measure. Net flows, minimum flow sizes and rankings are computed separately for each measure, so the direction of a net flow can differ between value and weight.
Not shown: Trade recorded under “Other Asia, nes” and with special or unspecified partner areas (bunkers, free zones, special categories and other “nes” areas) is not shown.

Flow direction classification

Economies are classified as North (developed) or South (developing, including least developed) using the UNCTAD development status classification, consistent with UNCTAD flagship publications. The designations “developed” and “developing” are intended for statistical convenience and do not necessarily express a judgement about the stage reached by a particular country or area in the development process.

N→S: Net flow from a developed economy to a developing economy
S→N: Net flow from a developing economy to a developed economy
S→S: Both economies are developing (including least developed)
N→N: Both economies are developed

Trade flow calculation

Net bilateral flow: For each pair of economies (A, B), the net flow is A’s exports to B minus B’s exports to A. The line runs from the net exporter to the net importer, and its size reflects the absolute net amount. Trade in both directions therefore partly offsets; the gross flows in each direction are shown in the corridor history and in the CSV downloads.
Line width: Square-root scale of the net flow, so that large flows do not hide small ones. Flows above the 98th percentile of those shown are drawn at the maximum width. Larger flows are also drawn more opaque.
Line curvature: All lines bend the same way (clockwise from exporter to importer), so eastward flows bow northward and westward flows bow southward. This shows which end is the exporter without arrows.
Circles: Colour shows the economy’s net balance (exports minus imports) over all flows in the current region or selection, before the minimum flow size, the Lines limit and the flow-direction filters: blue for net exporters, red for net importers, paler near balance. In a region view this is the balance within the region, so it can differ from the country panel, which uses all partners. Size shows the total of the lines drawn for that economy.

What the map shows

To avoid visual overload, the map draws only the largest net flows. The On map figure in the key-figures bar gives the total of the lines drawn and its share of all net flows in the current region or selection. The minimum flow size and the number of lines are set under Lines in the filter bar.

Auto (default): At most 40 lines, and none below a minimum: $10 M in the world view, $1 M for a region; with countries picked in From / To (counted together), $10 K (1–3), $100 K (4–10), $500 K (11–30) or $1 M (31 or more). If more than 40 flows clear the minimum, the 40 largest are drawn; if fewer do, fewer lines are drawn (a region may show only a few). The flow-direction filters apply afterwards, so hiding a direction also leaves fewer lines. In weight mode the same steps apply in tonnes (10 kt, 1 kt, 10 t, 100 t, 500 t, 1 kt).
Fixed minimum: $10 M to $10 K (10 kt to 10 t in weight mode): every net flow at or above the chosen value is drawn.
Maximum number of lines: Auto (default) sets no separate maximum: the minimum flow size decides, so an Auto minimum draws at most 40 lines and a fixed minimum draws every net flow at or above it. A number N draws only the N largest net flows. With an Auto minimum, it replaces both the automatic minimum and the 40-line cap, so the N largest flows are drawn however small they are; with a fixed minimum both conditions apply. The N largest are taken before the flow-direction filters, so hiding a direction can leave fewer than N lines.
Regions: A region shows only flows between economies of that region (UN M49 regions).
Connect: Only the connections you draw are shown, whatever their size. The region, From / To, minimum flow size and Lines settings do not apply to them; the flow-direction filters still do.
Country panel: Gross trade is the economy’s exports plus imports with all partners; net balance is exports minus imports. Trading partners, partner concentration, partners by compass direction and flow composition use all of the economy’s net flows; “Exports and imports by partner” shows the gross flows in each direction with its main partners. None of them use the minimum flow size, the Lines limit or the flow-direction filters. When a region is selected they are limited to partners in that region.

Partner concentration (HHI)

Shown in the country panel. Measures how much an economy’s trade is spread across partners or concentrated on a few — does it trade with everyone, or depend heavily on one partner?

Index used: Herfindahl–Hirschman Index (HHI): the sum of squared partner shares, scaled to 0–10,000. A score of 10,000 means all trade is with a single partner; a score near 0 means trade is spread evenly across many partners.
Formula: HHI = ∑(share_i²) × 10,000, where share_i is partner i’s share of the economy’s net bilateral flows. Export and import partners are counted together, in the selected measure (value or weight).
Interpretation: Diversified (below 2,000): trade spread across many partners
Moderate (2,000 to below 4,000): some partners dominate but diversification remains
Highly concentrated (4,000 and above): trade heavily dependent on one or two partners
Threshold note: These bands are specific to this tool and indicative. They are more lenient than the thresholds used in competition law (for example, the 2023 United States Merger Guidelines treat markets above 1,800 as highly concentrated).
Data scope: All of the economy’s net bilateral flows for the selected year, regardless of the minimum flow size, the Lines limit and the flow-direction filters; limited to partners in the region when a region is selected.

Sea route visualization

Coverage: Sea routes can be switched on in the country panel (“Sea routes”, experimental). They are drawn only for flows between different UNCTAD regions (Africa, Americas, Asia, Europe, Oceania); flows within a region keep their curved line to avoid clutter from short routes.
Algorithm: Routes are computed with the Eurostat searoute algorithm over a navigable sea graph.
Port selection: Each economy is routed through one representative port, chosen mainly as its highest-ranked port in the UNCTAD Port Liner Shipping Connectivity Index (PLSCI), with some ports set manually. Landlocked economies are routed through a usual transit port in another country, usually a neighbour (for example, Uganda through Mombasa, Kenya). The United States and Canada have two ports: a Pacific-coast port (Los Angeles, Vancouver) when the partner lies east of 60°E, and an Atlantic-coast port (New York, Halifax) otherwise. Australia uses Sydney for partners east of 60°E and in the Americas, and Fremantle on the Indian Ocean for partners in Europe, Africa and western Asia.
Disclaimer: Routes are indicative only. They do not represent actual tracked HS 6309 cargo paths, may not reflect the mode of transport used, and should not be used for navigation.

Map disclaimer

The boundaries and names shown and the designations used on this map do not imply official endorsement or acceptance by the United Nations. Dashed lines represent undefined borders. Dotted line represents approximately the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir agreed upon by India and Pakistan. The final boundary between the Sudan and South Sudan has not yet been determined. A dispute exists between the Governments of Argentina and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland concerning sovereignty over the Falkland Islands (Malvinas). The final status of the following territories has not yet been agreed or determined: Abyei area, Aksai Chin, Arunachal Pradesh, Bi’r Tawil, Hala’ib Triangle, Ilemi Triangle, Jammu and Kashmir, Kuril Islands, Paracel Islands, Scarborough Shoal, Senkaku Islands and Spratly Islands.

Full text: UN Trade and Development map disclaimer.

How to cite

UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD) (2026). Global Second-Hand Clothes Trade Monitor. Geneva.