Of seven major regional clothing trade flows identified by the World Trade Organization (WTO), only four increased in 2008. Three of the four involved exports from Asia, and comprised:

- exports from Asia to Europe, which rose in value by 16.7% to US$59.7 bn in 2008;

- exports from Asia to Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) countries1, which rose by 14.4% to US$16.1 bn following a 95.0% surge in 2007; and

- intra-Asian trade-ie trade between Asian countries-which grew by a more modest 1.6% to US$39.7 bn.

The fourth major clothing trade flow to exhibit growth in 2008 was that of intra-European trade, ie trade between European countries. Moreover, this trade flow was the biggest of the seven. Having grown by 5.2%, it reached US$108.0 bn in 2008 which equated to about 30% of world clothing trade in the same year.