It’s not surprising that performance wool has become so popular — the natural fiber offers major benefits over petroleum-based clothing like polyester. It’s better at moisture-wicking and thermoregulation, and it doesn’t leech microplastics into our blood and the environment.
That has helped drive a surge in popularity of merino wool garments in the last few years, especially in the outdoor apparel industry. Merino wool, which comes from a particular breed of sheep that originated in Spain, has become increasingly sought-after as more consumers worldwide seek soft, comfortable alternatives to synthetic, plastic-based clothing, according to multiple wool brands interviewed by GearJunkie.
This increased demand for comfy wool garments, however, has coincided with a slump in supply. Global wool production has declined by 30% over the last decade, and 2026 is seeing the highest wool prices since 2018, with prices up 50% since last year. And Australia — by far the world’s biggest wool producer — forecasts that the country’s 2025/2026 season will see another 9% dip in output compared to the previous year.
That means your favorite wool garments may soon get even pricier, according to Lawson Glidden, whose family has been selling wool in the U.S. for 100 years.
“The general trend for the next few years is going to be prices going up,” Glidden, president and CEO of Minus33, told GearJunkie. “It’s going to be tougher and tougher to keep prices from going up as time goes on.”
A More Complex Picture
Even without a slump in the global supply, merino wool isn’t cheap to begin with. As a natural fiber, wool is dependent on farmers’ ability to cultivate sheep, which are in turn affected by changes in the climate. Ongoing droughts have played a major role in the decline in wool production in recent years.
Minus33 is part of a small but growing number of brands offering 100% merino wool garments. The brand sells its lightweight T-shirt for $70. That’s not cheap, but it’s still less costly than GearJunkie’s top pick in our Best Merino Wool Shirts guide: the Ibex Naturalist Crew Neck, which has an MSRP of $90 and also contains only merino wool. Our guide’s Best Budget Option is from Merino Ridge. It costs $65, but blends its wool with 13% nylon — a common practice among many wool brands.
“Wool is pretty expensive. A huge amount of the price is just charging for the wool,” Glidden said. “It’s a little bit of a barrier to entry. But when you think about the plastics in your blood, you start considering it more.”
Other brands interviewed for this story — like Nuyarn, a New Zealand-based maker of performance wool, and WoolMark, the biggest wool company in Australia — were both more measured in their appraisal of the industry.
Representatives from these companies said other factors than wool production were equally salient, such as the cost of transport, manufacturing, and packaging. They were hesitant to make hard predictions, but still agreed that costs for merino wool garments would likely rise if the current situation continues — especially in the premium outdoor apparel market.
“There is likely to be continued cost pressure on fine merino products if global supply remains constrained and demand from outdoor, running, and performance categories continues to grow,” said Monica Ebert, Nuyarn’s vice president of sales.
Other Caveats
In the short term, wool prices are likely to increase. Global interest in wool has grown gradually over the last 10 years, with significant gains in China, India, the U.S., and Europe. However, those same price increases could attract more farmers back to raising sheep for their wool — and potentially bring down prices again in the long term. That’s especially true in the U.S., which has increasingly avoided raising sheep in favor of other agricultural options, such as cattle for meat production.
“Wool is clearly having a moment. Prices are up, demand is shifting, and for the first time in years, there’s real energy around the fiber. After a long stretch of decline, that alone is worth paying attention to,” Morning AgClips reported in April. “But stepping back, the bigger picture hasn’t completely changed overnight. Wool is still working its way back from years of low returns, and the same challenges of labor, market access, and price swings haven’t disappeared.”
Other short-term results from the price hikes could be that more brands decide to splice merino wool with synthetic fibers. Some brands claim that it improves durability, but that doesn’t change the fact that the garments now have plastics in them.
Perhaps most importantly, many of the climate trends decreasing wool production are also impacting virtually all natural fibers, said Stephen Hill, General Manager, International, for WoolMark.
“Looking ahead, wool is well positioned to benefit from several long-term consumer trends, including the preference for natural fibers, high-performance apparel, durability, and the ‘buy less, buy better’ mindset,” Hill told GearJunkie.
Minus33’s Glidden had a simpler way of explaining why people will likely continue buying merino wool, even if prices increase: “Once people get used to being comfortable, they don’t go back.”
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