China holds the top spot with a score of **.*, but it also surrendered more ground than any other economy this year, shedding *.* points under stacked US tariffs and intensifying forced-labour scrutiny. India, by contrast, posts the single largest gain of any country up *.* points to **.* cementing its status as the only top-tier economy pairing vast scale, a complete cotton-to-garment chain and rapidly improving market access.
The new sourcing order
China (**.*), India (**.*) and South Korea (**.*) form ****’s Tier * — the prime sourcing bases offering the strongest balance of opportunity and risk. Below them, a tightly bunched Tier * runs from Turkey (**.*) down to Germany (**.*), separated by less than four points. That compression is itself the story: with the headline scores clustered so closely, small shifts in tariff exposure, lead time or trade access now reshuffle the order meaningfully. Turkey, Spain and Japan each climbed a place this year as Vietnam slipped three, to seventh.
