Textile Dye Use Statistics and Costs

An extensive search on the Internet uncovered the following statistics related to textile dye global use:

Approximately 42 million metric tons (MT) of polyester fibers and approximately 25 million MT of cotton fibers were used in textiles in 2014, a total of 67 million MT.   These two fibers accounted for about 82% of fibers used in textiles in 2014.

Also found was that approximately 7 million MT of dyes were used in 2014 to color textiles (most of which were used for polyester and cotton fibers).  This 7 million MT estimate agrees well with the assumption that about 10% of the weight of fiber material is generally the weight of the dye material used to color the fibers (10% times 67 million MT = 6.7 million MT).

Other sources suggest that about $5.5 billion of textile dyes were sold in 2014 (most of which were likely used on polyester and cotton fibers).  Dividing $5.5 billion by the amount of dyes used (6.7 million MT) gives $821 per MT ($0.82 per kilogram) as the cost of dyes used.   However, it should be pointed out that dozens of dyes, perhaps more, are probably used in significant quantities in textile coloring.  So this $821 per MT only represents, at best, a very rough “benchmark” for textile dye costs in 2014.  Very many dyes were likely used in significant quantities with costs varying substantially from the benchmark amount.  However, this benchmark amount could be useful in understanding where a dye is priced along the spectrum of dye prices.