Smart Textiles Market - Forecasts from 2024 to 2029

The smart textile market is projected to reach US$8.321 billion in 2029 from an initial value of US$3.810 billion in 2024 at 16.91% (CAGR).

Smart textiles or wearables allow digital components like batteries and electronics to be embedded in them to provide added value to the wearer. These textiles are based on modern technological approaches such as nanotechnology that further enhance their tangible quality. Their growing applicability in military, fashion, healthcare, and sports has paved the way for future market expansion. Moreover, the ongoing digitization trend, followed by rapid urbanization and improvement in living standards, is acting as an additional driving factor.

The sports and fitness segment, in particular, is expected to be a major market driver during the projected period. In addition, the increasing demand for heartbeat monitoring and growing health concerns are also propelling growth opportunities in the market over the forecast period. As of today, diabetes and obesity are becoming major concerns, and with the rising adoption of wearable technology, the market for smart textiles is anticipated to witness substantial growth in the coming years.

Smart Textiles Market Drivers

The booming sports and fitness industry is expected to propel the market growth.

Over the years, sports culture has experienced significant growth globally, especially in developed economies. The ongoing self-health awareness trend has further made people invest in sports activities to keep a constant health check. Hence, such engagement has created a demand for smart wearables with high durability. This has led to the adoption of data-driven technologies and operations to bolster overall textile development, which is expected to drive the growth of the market during the forecast period.

Additionally, product innovations and strategic collaboration have further paved the way for future market expansion. For instance, in January 2024, athletic apparel provider Under Amor Inc. formed a collaboration with Celanese Corporation for the development of innovative fabrics called “NEOLAST”, which will offer high-performance elastance alternatives and would further address the issue of recycling blended fabrics. Bolstering growth of customized apparel demand is also reshaping the sportswear landscape, which has further led to an upward market trajectory.

Smart Textiles Market Segment Analysis

Military and defense hold a significant share of the market.

Smart textiles are based on a modern approach involving technological innovations that enable the fabric to adapt to the changes in the external environment. Owing to such dynamic features of smart textiles, the products are finding their way into military & defense gears and uniforms to enhance soldiers' energy harvesting and environment sensing capabilities. Governments of countries are investing in innovations to bolster their soldiers' and security personnel’s work performance and tactics. Hence, such growing military spending has provided new growth prospects for smart & technical textiles based on nanotechnology.

According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute’s 2023 report, global military expenditures in 2022 stood at US$2.24 trillion, representing a 3.7% increase over the previous year. Moreover, the same source stated that Europe witnessed a significant increase of 13%, whereas the Middle East experienced 3.2% growth.

APAC to witness high CAGR

Geography-wise, the smart textiles market is analyzed into North America, South America, Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and Asia Pacific. The Asia Pacific will constitute a remarkable market share fueled by the booming textile production in major economies, namely China and India. Additionally, rapid urbanization followed by growth in health awareness has led to favorable investments in fashion and sports culture, which has provided new growth opportunities.

Besides the growing sports sector, the increasing emphasis on technical textiles is another driving factor. According to the August 2023 PIB release, the Ministry of Textiles approved the Startup guidelines for developing technical textiles, which included translating the prototype & technologies to products and their commercialization.

Additionally, North America and Europe are also poised for significant growth, which is attributable to the growing technological innovations in textile manufacturing followed by booming demand for smart and connected wearables. According to the Consumer Technology Association’s research report issued in July 2022, the revenue generated via smart wearables/healthcare equipment will reach up to US$13 billion in the USA.

Smart Textiles Market Developments

• In August 2023, the Intelligence Advanced Research Project Activity launched the program “SMART ePANTS”. Its objective was the development of performance-grade computerized active smart textiles that function like any garment.
• In July 2022, Researchers at MIT developed a smart textile through thermoforming woven, which conforms to the body by identifying the wearer’s activity, such as jumping, running, and walking. The technology used in the fabrication process bolsters rapid prototyping, thereby accelerating large-scale manufacturing.

The Smart Textiles market is segmented and analyzed as follows:

By Type

• Active Smart Textile
• Passive Smart Textile
• Others

By Function

• Luminescent
• Sensing
• Energy harvesting
• Others

By Industry Verticals

• Fashion and entertainment
• Sports and Fitness
• Healthcare
• Automotive
• Military and Defense
• Others

By Geography

• North America
• USA
• Canada
• Mexico
• South America
• Brazil
• Argentina
• Others
• Europe
• UK
• Germany
• France
• Italy
• Others
• Middle East and Africa
• Saudi Arabia
• UAE
• Others
• Asia Pacific
• China
• Japan
• South Korea
• India
• Indonesia
• Thailand
• Others