The Małopolska Region, together with the historical capital of Poland - Krakow, is one of the most recognizable regions in Europe. Unusual landscapes, unique nature, an impressive number of monuments, including 14 inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List and a unique atmosphere – all this means that every year our region is visited by several million tourists from Poland and around the world. In addition, Małopolska is undoubtedly one of the most dynamically developing regions on the economic map of Poland and Europe. The strong position of our Małopolska is demonstrated by the dynamically operating companies in our region, recognized not only in the country but also abroad. It is not without reason that Małopolska is one of the leading destinations chosen for the organization of business and economic meetings, which only confirms the thesis that it is a perfect place for business development. Małopolska is also characterized by the large scientific and research potential of Małopolska universities and research centres. Every year, about 150,000 young people study at universities in Małopolska; research works are carried out in several hundred research and development institutions, in domestic and foreign enterprises. It is also here that modernity based on the best traditions of Polish entrepreneurship finds application, among others in innovative technologies for construction. This is one of the fastest growing sectors of the regional economy. In this way, the achievements of Krakow’s engineering universities find a direct relationship with market challenges, the demand for environmentally friendly, Energy saving solutions used in broadly understood construction processes.

Characteristics of the market in Poland:

The value of the Polish clothing market amounts to approximately PLN 29.7 billion and is one of the largest and most attractive markets in Central and Eastern Europe. In 2017, over 22 thousand entities were active in the clothing and textile sector in Poland. Almost 2/3 of all businesses in this market sector were clothing manufacturers (almost 13.5 thousand companies), 25% are entities involved in the production of textile products (almost 6 thousand companies), the smallest share was held by companies producing leather and leather products (almost 3 thousand companies). The fashion industry was dominated by private enterprises and small companies employing less than 50 people, which constitute about 85% of all companies in this sector. In 2017, 185.7 thousand people were employed in the clothing industry. The largest number of people found employment in the clothing production segment (96.8 thousand people). 27.5 thousand people were employed in the production of leather and leather goods, and almost 60 thousand people - in the production of textiles, most of them in the private sector (99.4%). In 2018 Poland exported clothing and footwear products worth nearly PLN 32 billion (of which PLN 24.3 billion were clothes and PLN 7.6 billion was footwear). The principal destination for goods exported from Poland were the EU countries. The import of clothing and footwear products reached the value of over 40 billion PLN (29.9 billion PLN for clothing and over 10 billion PLN for footwear).

 If You want to know more about industrial design, clothing, footwear industry in Małopolska Region, read publication in our publications section.

 Publication has been prepared as part of the implementation of the „Power up Your Business in Małopolska 2” project, sub-measure 3.3.1 of the Regional Operational Program of the Malopolska Region for the years 2014-2020.