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

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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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