Introduction

Better Factories Cambodia (BFC) is part of the Better Work programme, a partnership of the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the International Finance Corporation (IFC). As an ILO flagship programme, Better Work brings together stakeholders from all levels of the global garment manufacturing industry to improve working conditions, enhance respect for labour rights, and boost competitiveness. BFC was established in 2001 and is the longest running Better Work programme. It regularly prepares public reports such as this current report to summarize industry updates and to highlight aggregate non-compliance findings from the programme’s factory assessments. The compliance summary of this BFC Annual Report is based primarily upon compliance data collected from the 381 assessments in garment factories conducted by the programme in 2024, while also providing an overview of results from 75 assessments in the travel goods and bags sector. To provide context, this report starts with a brief overview of the industry context and BFC activities in key thematic areas. The report then presents an analysis of assessment findings and concludes by highlighting key areas of work for BFC and its partners looking forward

Industry Context

The garment sector has been central to Cambodia’s economic growth for decades. The sector supports the competitiveness of local businesses and provides significant employment opportunities. Data from the Royal Government of Cambodia shows the garment, footwear, and travel goods (GFT) sector experienced steady growth from 2020-2024, with the number of firms increasing by 30 per cent in the five-year period to a total of 1,555 firms in 2024. These firms employ over 918,000 workers, 75-80 per cent of whom are women. The monthly minimum wage earned by these workers was set at US$ 204, a figure that has steadily increased in the past decade and has increased to US$ 208 in 2025. The expansion of the industry in this period includes growth of both export-oriented factories and enterprises providing specialized supplementary services like laundry, embroidery, dyeing, and packaging.

Together with footwear and travel goods, exports of garments have accounted for a large majority of exports from the country. In 2024, exports of the GFT totaled US$ 13.6 billion, with ready-made garments accounting for over 70 per cent of the total. After experiencing an overall decline in 2023, this represents significant growth for GFT exports, and an all-time high for the sector in terms of export value.