The Best Countries in the World for Thrift Shopping
In recent years, second-hand shopping has skyrocketed in popularity. Thanks to Gen Z’s push for more sustainable clothing alternatives, thrift shopping has become a multibillion-dollar market. According to Statista, the global thrifting market was valued at $197 billion and is expected to grow by another $100 billion by 2026 as people keep learning how to save more on shopping for clothing.
Recently, researchers from the clothing brand Public Desire conducted a study that identified the countries with the best thrifting culture. The study took in metrics such as the number of thrift stores in each country, the resale market value, the annual growth rate of thrift stores, the percentage of the population that had bought or sold secondhand clothing at least once, and the number of internet searches for thrift shops. The final score for each country was determined by taking into account all these metrics.
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The study found that the United States was the best country for thrift shopping, with a score of 100. The U.S. was also found to have the highest resale market value as well as the highest number of web searches. Japan has the most thrift stores, with a total of 483,000. The United Kingdom, ranked second by the study, has the highest annual growth rate at 27.2%.
Listed below is the data found for the top 11 countries with the best thrifting culture.
Also here’s the best day to shop at thrift stores.
United States
Number of thrift stores: 28,849
Resale market: $39 billion
Annual growth: 11%
Percentage of the population who has thrifted at least once: 93% online, 16-18% in thrift shops
Number of web searches: 3,110,000
Score: 100
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United Kingdom
Number of thrift stores: 4,082
Resale market: $3.3 billion
Annual growth: 27.2%
Percentage of the population who has thrifted at least once: 70%
Number of web searches: 41,300
Score: 41.31
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Sweden
Number of thrift stores: 2,097
Resale market: $8.81 billion
Annual growth: 2.04%
Percentage of the population who has thrifted at least once: 75%
Number of web searches: 23,300
Score: 36.71
Netherlands
Number of thrift stores: 4,326
Resale market: $622 million
Annual growth: 4.7%
Percentage of the population who has thrifted at least once: 73%
Number of web searches: 20,500
Score: 32.41
Japan
Number of thrift stores: 483,000
Resale market: $18 billion
Annual growth: 3.6%
Percentage of the population who has thrifted at least once: 30%
Number of web searches: 30,4000
Score: 30.4
Germany
Number of thrift stores: 11,600
Resale market: $3.1 million
Annual growth: -1.1%
Percentage of the population who has thrifted at least once: 75%
Number of web searches: 100,000
Score: 26.59
Canada
Number of thrift stores: 2,823
Resale market: $2.6 billion
Annual growth: 1.9%
Percentage of the population who has thrifted at least once: 50%
Number of web searches: 242,000
Score: 23.12
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Denmark
Number of thrift stores: 404
Resale market: $90 million
Annual growth: -0.2%
Percentage of the population who has thrifted at least once: 84%
Number of web searches: 10,7000
Score: 19.1
Austria
Number of thrift stores: 1,000
Resale market: $440 million
Annual growth: 1.9%
Percentage of the population who has thrifted at least once: 85%
Number of web searches: 7,900
Score: 16.32
Belgium
Number of thrift stores: 2,263
Resale market: $500 million
Annual growth: -1.5%
Percentage of the population who has thrifted at least once: 49%
Number of web searches: 6,200
Score: 12.68
Norway
Number of thrift stores: 354
Resale market: $95 million
Annual growth: 3.9%
Percentage of the population who has thrifted at least once: 43%
Number of web searches: 5,300
Score: 5.98
Data is sourced from Public Desire and is accurate as of June 10, 2024.
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