The average revenue for Australian manufacturers in the clothing, footwear and accessories space saw a near-doubling in the fourth quarter of 2025.
This is according to new data from inventory management software provider Unleashed, which shows that the average revenue for fashion manufacturers hit $414,065 in Q4, up from $253,268 quarter-on-quarter and markedly ahead of the same quarter in Q4 2024 where it averaged around $400,000.
The figures appear in Unleashed’s latest manufacturing report, based on data from more than 500 Australian firms across manufacturing categories such as food and beverage, clothing and fashion and construction.
Adjacent retail sectors like personal care also saw a significant uplift, where the average manufacturer’s revenue was $293,972 - up 15 per cent QoQ and almost double the average revenue in the same quarter last year.
According to the report, both sectors focused on rigorous warehouse management, with fashion manufacturers' excess stock-on-hand climbing modestly to an average of $80,000 in Q4 but less than half of the figure reported in 2024.
Personal care was a similar story, with a slight jump QoQ up to $102,000 from $80,000 but a remarkable decline from the same quarter last year, where the average was $233,000.
Lead times were up compared to other sectors but down on the same time last year, at 20 days for clothing and 21 days for personal care.
“The holiday period provided a vital boost for lifestyle-focused manufacturers,” says Unleashed head of product Jarrod Adam. “It’s a clear indicator that despite broader cost-of-living pressures, there is still resilient demand for high-quality, Australian-made consumer goods.”
All this comes amid a growing push to revive Australia’s local clothing and footwear manufacturing, where it has shrunk mightily since the 1990s where now just 3 per cent of all clothes sold in Australia are made in Australia.
The Australian Fashion Council (AFC) is set to announce its National Manufacturing Strategy to Australian Parliament this month, after a year-long consultation project across the country speaking with stakeholders across the fashion and textile industry alongside R.M. Williams.
According to the AFC, its nationwide consultation revealed three constraints on capability rebuild, including demand uncertainty (including government procurements), investment barriers and policy fragmentation. On the last, the AFC noted that short-term programs do not compound into sustained capability.
“The National Manufacturing Strategy for Fashion & Textiles (2026 - 2036) responds to this evidence through a ten-year, industry-led roadmap focused on demand activation, skills, technology adoption and value-chain rebuilding,” the AFC noted. “The remaining gap is implementation capacity to shift the Strategy from publication to delivery.”
Alongside the sales boom for fashion manufacturers across Australia, according to Unleashed, the sector also maintained a healthy average margin of 48.4 per cent, while personal care saw a dip from 54.5 per cent to 48.8 per cent QoQ.
The average sales booms for both fashion and personal care manufacturers comes as the average total revenue across all manufacturing in Australia settled at $619,184 in the final quarter of 2025. While this represented a small 1 per cent dip from Q3, Unleashed noted this confirmed that the significant gains made earlier in the year have held firm.
This stability was matched by margin resilience as Australian profit margins remained robust at 38.47 per cent despite inflationary pressures.
Unlike their counterparts in the UK and New Zealand, who engaged in aggressive restocking, Australian manufacturers continued to refine their stock profiles.
Stock on Hand (SOH) dropped to an average of $233,763, yet this lean approach was paired with a significant 22 per cent lift in purchasing.
“Australian businesses are doing what they need to adapt in fast-changing environments,” Adam said.
“The disconnect we’re seeing between lower stock levels and higher purchase values suggests a move toward just-in-time replenishment. Firms aren’t sitting on mountains of cash tied up in inventory, they are buying precisely what they need to meet immediate demand.”
Supporting this agile strategy, supply chains have remained efficient. While lead times widened slightly to 17 days in Q4, they remain significantly lower than the averages seen throughout 2024, allowing firms to maintain high turnover.
Meanwhile, construction manufacturing – often seen as a bellwether for the wider economy – saw a slight dip in average revenue QoQ down 3 per cent to $716,237. However compared to the same quarter last year, revenue is up 63 per cent.
Unleashed added that interest rates will continue to play a central role in the manufacturing sector in the first half of 2026. The RBA raised the cash rate to 3.85 per cent in February 2026, the first increase after a period of holding or cutting rates in 2025. As of early March 2026, Governor Michele Bullock has stated that another rate hike is a ‘live’ chance for the March 16–17 meeting, with some economists also expecting another rate hike.
The RBA now expects inflation to peak in mid-2026 (potentially reaching 4.2 per cent headline) before finally moderating back toward the 2.5 per cent midpoint by mid-2028.
But, the outbreak of conflict in the Middle East complicates forecasts. The inventory firm noted that energy price increases may raise material and supply chain costs, and erode margins. The trend towards stable and low lead times could also be affected as shipping firms respond.
Renewed pressure on energy and supply costs are likely to accelerate an existing imperative for firms to evolve beyond surviving high costs towards scaling efficient operations. This includes ramping up automation processes.
“The challenge for 2026 is productivity,” Adam added. “Manufacturers must leverage technology to manage these tighter cycles and ensure they have the visibility required to avoid stockouts during demand spikes, without sacrificing the lean efficiency they’ve worked so hard to achieve.”