The Industry Wage Gap
Wages Industry Score
The Industry We Want wage gap metric, devised in partnership with the WageIndicator Foundation, is 41%.
This reflects a narrowing of the wage gap with an 8.5% decrease from 2024 where it was 49.5%. This indicates that the estimated average percentage gap between minimum wages and the average living wages across 31 key garment producing countries has reduced. Despite the improvement, workers are still not receiving the adequate amount of money they need to reach a decent standard of living. These are not just abstract numbers; they represent the real struggles of workers and the impact on their lives.
The Data
Our Approach
A living wage is the minimum income necessary for a worker and their family to meet basic needs, including some discretionary income. This should be earned during legal working hour limits. There is a broad consensus that current wages in most garment producing countries are well below any meaningful understanding of a living wage. For The Industry We Want, we accept any interpretation of a living wage that has been endorsed by local Trade Unions and has a transparent methodology.
TIWW provides a wage metric that illustrates the gap between legal minimum wages and living wages in 31 garment sector manufacturing countries, providing a comprehensive overview of wage data. The countries are chosen based on their respective trade volume, market relevance, expertise and region.
Our Partner
WageIndicator seeks to achieve greater labour market transparency for the benefit of all employers, employees, and workers worldwide. It does so by sharing and comparing information on minimum wages, living wages, actual wages, labour law and career. WageIndicator works in 200 countries with websites in national languages.