Guatemala benefiting from secondhand clothing sector, report

Guatemala’s secondhand clothing sector plays a critical role in supporting affordable clothing access, income generation, and material reuse in a country where 71% of employment is informal and over half the population lives in poverty, a new report suggests.

The report, ‘Secondhand clothing imports from the United States to Guatemala: a study of trade, distribution, and local impact’ from US-based consultancy Garson and Shaw, shows that Guatemala imported 131.25 million kilograms of secondhand clothing in 2023, 98.6% of which originated from the US, making Guatemala one of the largest secondhand clothing importers in Central America.