Cotton: IDH India
The true price of a certified cotton from India is € 2,90, which is lower than conventional cotton. Conventional cotton has a true price of € 4,20 per kilo of cotton seeds.
We also calculated the true price of a t-shirt is € 22,30, which includes €15,00 for the average retail price of a t-shirt and € 7,30 for the external costs.
- Location: India
- Year: 2016
- Description: True Price executed an extensive impact measurement and valuation project for cotton from India, a value chain where IDH executes sustainability programs. The study compared the social and environmental costs of conventional vs. certified production. The study attributed impacts on farm and retail level.
Cotton: Jeans from India and Bangladesh
The study finds that the true price gap of a pair of jeans is around €30, meaning that significant environmental and social costs – especially from cotton cultivation and textile production – are not included in the price consumers pay.
- Location: India, Bangladesh
- Year: 2018
- Description: The study uses secondary life‑cycle and socio‑economic data and applies the true pricing methodology to assess the jeans value chain, from cotton cultivation in India to jeans manufacturing in Bangladesh. It shows that the most important impacts are scarce water use and water pollution in cotton farming, and social issues such as bonded labour, underpayment, and poor working conditions in textile production, making these stages the main hotspots of the true price gap.
