44 TEKSTILNA INDUSTRIJA · Broj 3 · 2020 TEXTILE INDUSTRY IN NORTH MACEDONIA Silvana Zezova 1* , Sonja Jordeva 1 , Sashka Golomeova Longurova 1 , Aco Janevski 1 1 University „Goce Delchev“, Shtip, Faculty of Technology, Štip, Republic of North Macedonia *e-mail: silvana.zezova@ugd.edu.mk Abstract: The textile industry in North Macedonia is one of the most important industry sectors with a long tradition and experience and plays an enormous part in the general economic performance and external po- sition of the country. According to the latest structural data, the textile and garment industry in 2019 recruits around 35,000 workers, or 27 % of the total number of employees in the manufacturing sector, dealing with the industry. The textile sector participates with 13% in the industry’s GDP and represents 10% of the total exports in average. The purpose of this paper is to explore the development of the textile industry in the Republic of North Macedonia in the last 10 years. Keywords: textile production, wearing apparel, net wage, Industrial production volume indices TEKSTILNA INDUSTRIJA U SEVERNОЈ MAKEDONIJI Apstract: Tekstilna industrija u Severnoj Makedoniji jedan je od najvažnijih industrijskih sektora sa dugom tradicijom i iskustvom i igra veoma veliku ulogu u ukupnom ekonomskom učinku i spoljnoj poziciji zemlje. Prema poslednjim relevantnim podacima, tekstilna i odevna industrija u 2019. godini zapošljavaju oko 35.000 radnika, odnosno 27% ukupnog broja zaposlenih u industrijskom proizvodnom sektoru. Tekstilni sektor učestvuje sa 13% u industrijskom BDP-u i predstavlja 10% ukupnog izvoza u proseku. Svrha ovog rada je istražiti razvoj tekstilne industrije u Republici Severnoj Makedoniji u poslednjih 10 godina. Klučne reči: tekstilna proizvodnja, odeća, neto plate, indeksi obima industrijske proizvodnje. Professional paper UDC: 677 (497,7):338.1 doi: 10.5937/tekstind2003044Z 1. INTRODUCTION The textile industry in North Macedonia is one of the most important industry sectors with a long tra- dition and experience and plays an enormous part in the Macedonian economy [1, 2]. According to the national Classification of Activity (NCA), textile com- panies in North Macedonian are divided into two groups [3]: 1. manufacturers of textile materials; 2. manufacturers of wearing apparel, dressing and dyeing of fur. According to the NACE Rev.21 classification in 2017 year, а total of 1076 companies were registered, 875 companies were registered in the clothing man- ufacturing segment and 201 in the production of tex- tiles, as it is shown in the Table 1.