Oxford Report Says Fashion Influences 30% of Global Farmland
The University of Oxford’s Smith School estimates that fashion’s fiber sourcing influences about 30.15 percent of global agricultural land. Leather and wool together account for nearly 97 percent of that total, with leather linked to 876 million hectares and wool to 528.4 million hectares.
Cotton accounts for 34.7 million hectares, while linen and hemp cover 5.9 million hectares and silk 2.3 million hectares. The report’s methodology counts the full agricultural footprint of each fiber, even when the same land also produces food or other commodities, to gauge the influence fashion brands could exert through purchasing. In 2024, more than 2.9 billion square meters of genuine leather were processed worldwide, of which footwear, handbags and apparel used 1.2 billion square meters. Even without wool, the remaining fiber categories would still touch roughly 19 percent of global farmland, with leather alone representing 18.25 percent. The report also notes that apparel absorbs roughly half of global fiber production, with home textiles taking another quarter and industrial, technical, medical and other uses making up the remainder.
“We are not measuring blame. We are measuring power, and it turns out fashion has far more of it than anyone has been telling us,” Arizona Muse, Dirt’s founder and one of the report’s authors said.
“A brand changing how it sources is changing how land is farmed,” Sam Fankhauser, director of the Smith School and another of the report’s authors said.
What we know
The report estimates that five groups of natural fibers affect about 1.45 billion hectares, or 30.15 percent, of global agricultural land.
The researchers linked leather production to 876 million hectares of grazing land and wool to another 528.4 million hectares.
Cotton accounted for 34.7 million hectares, followed by linen and hemp at 5.9 million hectares and silk at 2.3 million hectares.
More than 2.9 billion square meters of genuine leather were processed globally in 2024, according to the report.