Professional and private clothing repair in Norway: scale and price examples

This project note is made to be used in the work of developing Product Environmental Footprint Category Rules (PEFCR) for Apparel and Footwear, more specifically for the working group that focuses on repairability of clothing and footwear. The note provides background information for discussions on clothing repairability, especially regarding the prices and types of clothing repair and differences between countries. Our study shows that average starting prices of garment repairs vary between 151 NOK (13 euros) for simpler repairs such as repairing an undone seam or a fallen hem, and 1375 NOK (117 euros) for more demanding repairs such as changing a lining of a coat. When compared to the average prices of repair in France, the prices are on average 84% higher but can be up to triple in some cases. This is more than the differences in labour costs, indicating that other factors, such as higher operating expenses, market dynamics and taxation policies may also contribute to the higher repair prices.