UNIQLO’s Global Growth Is Shifting. Which Markets Are Driving It?

A region-by-region look at UNIQLO International, FY2024 to FY2026: what Fast Retailing discloses, which regions added the most, and why two annual changes do not establish a lasting trend.

Balancio Intelligence · Inside UNIQLO — Research Series 001 · Article #03. This is independent financial research based on Fast Retailing’s public disclosures. It is not sponsored, reviewed or endorsed by Fast Retailing or UNIQLO.

Key findings

1. Among the four reported regions, the largest FY2026 contribution came from Asia. South Korea and Southeast Asia, India & Australia added ¥190.0 billion of revenue, 38% of UNIQLO International’s increase. That is more than Europe (¥143.1 billion) or North America (¥93.8 billion) added individually.
2. But North America and Europe combined added more. Together the two regions contributed ¥236.9 billion, or 47% of the FY2026 revenue increase. Their combined share of yen-reported International revenue rose from 28.9% in FY2024 to 36.4% in FY2026.
3. The leadership changed in a single year. In FY2025, when Greater China’s revenue fell, North America and Europe accounted for 74% of International’s net revenue increase. In FY2026, Greater China grew again and the Asian grouping accelerated, so the combined Western share of growth fell to 47%. Two annual changes cannot yet establish whether a permanent shift is under way.

Regional figures are reported by Fast Retailing in yen. Contributions, shares and margins are Balancio calculations. Fiscal years end 31 August.

In this article

1. Key findings
2. The question behind a familiar headline
3. What Fast Retailing actually discloses
4. Who added the yen?
5. A shift in reported revenue mix
6. Profitability: where each yen is worth most
7. Yen growth is not local growth
8. A note on stores
9. Why two annual changes do not establish a trend
10. Why this matters for finance leaders
11. What the numbers cannot tell us
12. Research methodology and sources

The question behind a familiar headline

Fast Retailing’s FY2026 results contained a line that reads like a turning point. For the first time, combined sales in North America and Europe exceeded those of Greater China. They also exceeded the combined sales of South Korea and Southeast Asia, India & Australia.

It is tempting to conclude that UNIQLO’s growth engine has moved West. This article tests that conclusion with three questions. Which regions actually added the most revenue and profit in FY2026? Did the same regions lead a year earlier? And how much of what looks like regional momentum could reflect a weaker yen rather than stronger local demand?

The scope is geographic. Article #02 compared UNIQLO Japan with UNIQLO International as a whole, and Article #01 explained where the combined profit growth came from. Here we look inside International.

What Fast Retailing actually discloses

Before ranking regions, it is worth being precise about the data.

Fast Retailing reports UNIQLO International as four geographic regions:

• Greater China (mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan);
• South Korea and Southeast Asia, India & Australia, reported as one combined line;
• North America;
• Europe.

The same four regions appear in the FY2024, FY2025 and FY2026 results summaries. In each year they add up to the International segment within rounding. That gives three years of comparable regional revenue.

Regional business profit (revenue minus cost of sales minus SG&A) is available only for FY2025 and FY2026. For FY2024, Fast Retailing published regional profit as operating profit, which is not directly comparable. This mirrors the change in Fast Retailing’s headline profit measure discussed in Article #01.

Fast Retailing does not publish country-level results or split South Korea from Southeast Asia, India & Australia. It gives local-currency growth as a number only for the International total and mainland China. We therefore do not build a five-year regional table, and we treat any two- or three-year pattern with caution.

Table 1. UNIQLO International by reported region (¥ billion)

Region	Revenue FY2024	Revenue FY2025	Revenue FY2026	Revenue growth FY2026	BP FY2025	BP FY2026	BP growth FY2026	BP margin FY2026
Greater China	677.0	650.2	724.0	+11.3%	89.9	112.0	+24.6%	15.5%
South Korea and Southeast Asia, India & Australia	540.5	619.4	809.4	+30.7%	116.9	168.3	+44.0%	20.8%
North America	217.7	271.1	364.9	+34.6%	44.2	67.9	+53.3%	18.6%
Europe	276.5	369.5	512.6	+38.7%	54.2	91.7	+69.0%	17.9%
UNIQLO International (segment)	1,711.8	1,910.3	2,411.1	+26.2%	305.3	439.9	+44.1%	18.2%

Sources: Fast Retailing results summaries for FY2024 (pp. 3–4), FY2025 (p. 3) and FY2026 (pp. 3–4); segment totals from the segment 5-year table. Revenue, business profit and growth rates as reported in yen; margins calculated by Balancio. The four regions sum to the segment within ¥0.3 billion because of rounding. Regional business profit is not shown for FY2024 because it was reported on an operating-profit basis.

Reading the table. Every region grew revenue and business profit in FY2026, and every region’s margin improved. By growth rate the West leads: Europe +38.7%, North America +34.6%. But a growth rate measures speed, not weight. A smaller region can grow quickly and still add fewer yen than a larger one growing more slowly. The more useful question is how much each region added.

Who added the yen?

Figure 1. Change in UNIQLO International revenue by reported region, FY2025 and FY2026 (¥ billion, yen-reported). North America + Europe is shown separately as a combined reference line; it is not a reported region. Source: Fast Retailing results summaries FY2024 (pp. 3–4), FY2025 (p. 3), FY2026 (pp. 3–4); changes and shares calculated by Balancio.

FY2025: the West carried the year. International revenue rose by ¥198.5 billion. Europe added ¥93.0 billion and North America ¥53.4 billion, while Greater China’s revenue fell by ¥26.8 billion. North America and Europe together accounted for 74% of the net increase. That share is high partly because Greater China’s decline reduced the total.

FY2026: a broader-based year. International revenue rose by ¥500.7 billion, two and a half times the previous year’s increase. Among the four reported regions, the largest contribution came from South Korea and Southeast Asia, India & Australia, at ¥190.0 billion. Europe added ¥143.1 billion, North America ¥93.8 billion and Greater China, growing again, ¥73.8 billion.

The comparison needs care. The Asian grouping added more than any individual Western region. North America and Europe combined added more still: ¥236.9 billion, or 47% of the increase. Both statements are true. They answer different questions.

Business profit shows the same pattern in FY2026. Of International’s ¥134.7 billion profit increase:

Region	Δ Business profit FY2026 (¥bn)	Share of increase
South Korea and Southeast Asia, India & Australia	+51.4	38%
Europe	+37.5	28%
North America	+23.7	18%
Greater China	+22.1	16%
North America + Europe combined (reference)	+61.2	45%

Calculated by Balancio from reported FY2025 and FY2026 regional business profit. Regional changes sum to ¥134.7bn against a reported segment change of ¥134.6bn (rounding).

What it means. On a combined basis, North America and Europe remain the largest growth block. But no single Western region was the biggest contributor in FY2026, and the dominant Western share of FY2025 growth owed something to Greater China’s decline that year. The leadership of International’s growth depends on how regions are grouped and on which year is chosen.

A shift in reported revenue mix

The clearest measurable change is not any single year’s growth. It is the changing geographic composition of International’s yen-reported revenue.

Figure 2. How UNIQLO International’s revenue mix changed, FY2024–FY2026 (share of yen-reported revenue by reported region). Source: Fast Retailing results summaries FY2024 (pp. 3–4), FY2025 (p. 3), FY2026 (pp. 3–4); shares calculated by Balancio as region revenue ÷ sum of the four reported regions.

Table 2. Share of UNIQLO International revenue by region (yen-reported)

Region	FY2024	FY2025	FY2026	Change (pts)
Greater China	39.6%	34.0%	30.0%	−9.6
South Korea and Southeast Asia, India & Australia	31.6%	32.4%	33.6%	+2.0
North America	12.7%	14.2%	15.1%	+2.4
Europe	16.2%	19.3%	21.3%	+5.1
North America + Europe combined	28.9%	33.5%	36.4%	+7.5

Calculated by Balancio: region revenue ÷ sum of the four reported regions, in yen. Figures may not sum to 100.0% because of rounding.

In two years, Greater China moved from the largest region to the second-largest, behind the Asian grouping. Europe gained the most weight, about five points. North America and Europe together rose from 28.9% to 36.4% of International revenue and delivered 55% of International’s revenue growth over the two years combined. The Asian grouping also gained share and is now the largest single region.

This is a measurable rebalancing of the reported revenue mix. It is not yet proof that operating strength has moved permanently West, for three reasons:

• The window is short. Comparable regional revenue covers three years, so the mix has changed twice. That is a direction, not an established trend.
• The mix is measured in yen. Currency movements affect each region’s yen-reported revenue differently, so part of the change in shares may reflect exchange rates rather than relative demand.
• Greater China’s share fell partly because of a weak FY2025. It grew again in FY2026, by 11.3% in yen.

Profitability: where each yen is worth most

Scale and speed are two lenses; margin is a third. FY2026 business-profit margins were:

• South Korea and Southeast Asia, India & Australia: 20.8%;
• North America: 18.6%;
• Europe: 17.9%;
• Greater China: 15.5%.

All four improved on FY2025. Europe’s margin rose most, from 14.7% to 17.9%, helping explain why its business profit grew far faster than revenue (+69.0% against +38.7%). The Asian grouping remains the most profitable region per yen of sales. Greater China is the least profitable; for mainland China, Fast Retailing describes structural operational reforms and a business-profit margin of about 16%.

For finance readers, the combination matters. The Asian grouping is both the largest region and the highest-margin one, so its absolute profit contribution in FY2026 (¥51.4 billion) exceeded that of any single Western region.

Yen growth is not local growth

Every regional figure above is in yen. When the yen weakens, overseas results grow faster in yen than they do in local currency.

Fast Retailing provides one clear comparison for the segment as a whole: in FY2026, International revenue grew 26.2% in yen but about 18% in local currency. For individual regions, the local-currency evidence is less complete:

• Mainland China: revenue about +3% and business profit about +18% in local currency. Mainland China is not the same unit as Greater China, which also includes Hong Kong and Taiwan, and which grew 11.3% in yen.
• South Korea, Southeast Asia, India & Australia, North America and Europe: Fast Retailing describes double-digit revenue and profit growth in local currency but gives no figures. These statements cannot be used to compare the regions with each other.

Exchange rates also moved by different amounts. On Fast Retailing’s average rates, the yen cost of one euro rose 11.6% in FY2026, against 9.2% for the renminbi, 7.9% for sterling, 5.0% for the dollar and 0.9% for the Korean won. But each region contains several countries and currencies, and Fast Retailing does not disclose regional currency mix. The size of the currency effect on any individual region therefore cannot be determined from the available disclosures, and we do not estimate it. The relative ranking of regions could differ on a local-currency basis, but the data does not show whether it would.

The proportionate reading is this. International grew strongly in both yen and local terms. The gap between regions in yen growth rates may partly reflect currency, and readers should not treat yen growth rankings as pure measures of operating performance. A fuller currency analysis is the subject of Article #07.

A note on stores

At the end of FY2026, North America and Europe had 219 of International’s 1,717 stores, about 13%, yet produced 36% of regional revenue. Greater China had 958 stores, 56% of the total, and produced 30% of revenue.

The contrast is consistent with Fast Retailing’s description of a flagship-led approach in the West. However, year-end store counts are not average store numbers, and store formats differ widely, so we draw no productivity conclusions from it.

Why two annual changes do not establish a trend

Three cautions apply before calling this a new growth engine.

• The ranking reversed within a year. FY2025 pointed to the West; FY2026 pointed to the Asian grouping as the largest individual contributor. Two observations cannot establish a lasting direction.
• Base effects matter. Greater China’s FY2026 growth follows a FY2025 decline, so part of its contribution is recovery. Europe’s FY2026 growth builds on a year in which it had already grown 33.6%.
• Aggregation affects size. South Korea and Southeast Asia, India & Australia covers many countries, so part of its large absolute contribution reflects its breadth rather than the strength of any one market.

Fast Retailing’s FY2027 outlook expects double-digit revenue and profit growth in South Korea, Southeast Asia, India & Australia, North America and Europe. For Greater China, it expects higher revenue and double-digit profit growth. That is a management plan, not evidence. It does suggest the company is not relying on a single regional engine.

Why this matters for finance leaders

The findings above are specific to UNIQLO. The practices below are general principles of segment analysis. They assume no access to UNIQLO’s internal data and say nothing about how UNIQLO’s management makes decisions.

Rank regions by contribution, not just growth rate. A fast-growing small region can add less than a moderately growing large one. In a segment performance review, FP&A can show each region’s growth rate, absolute contribution and share of the total change side by side. That stops the fastest grower being mistaken for the biggest driver.

Test regional leadership across more than one year. UNIQLO’s leading contributor changed between FY2025 and FY2026. Before reallocating capital or management attention on a one-year pattern, look at contributions over two or three years and check which years were affected by unusual declines or recoveries.

Separate currency before comparing regions. When currencies move differently against the reporting currency, rankings by reported growth can be partly currency rankings. Internally, most groups can report regional revenue and profit at constant exchange rates; that view belongs next to the reported figures in any regional review.

Adjust for base effects. Rapid growth after a weak year is not the same as rapid growth after a strong year. Comparing against a two-year base, or against the pre-decline level, gives a fairer picture.

Be explicit about groupings. Comparing one reporting region with a combination of two is legitimate, but the report should say so. Otherwise the same data can support opposite headlines.

Three questions for your next regional review:

1. Which region added the most to this year’s change in revenue and profit, as distinct from growing fastest?
2. Would the same region lead on a two- or three-year view, and at constant exchange rates?
3. How much of the leading region’s contribution reflects recovery against a weak prior year?

All articles in this series lead to the full report, Inside UNIQLO — Balancio Intelligence Research Series 001.

What the numbers cannot tell us

• Countries. Results are reported by region. South Korea is combined with Southeast Asia, India & Australia, and no country-level profit is disclosed.
• Longer trends. Comparable regional revenue covers three years, and regional business profit two.
• Local currency. Numeric local-currency growth is available only for the International total and mainland China. Regional currency effects cannot be quantified from public disclosures.
• Causes. The drivers Fast Retailing cites, such as flagship openings, new products and operational reforms, are management explanations. The figures do not test them.

Research methodology and sources

Scope. UNIQLO International’s four reported regions. Revenue covers FY2024 (September 2023 – August 2024) to FY2026 (September 2025 – August 2026); business profit covers FY2025–FY2026. IFRS, ¥ billion as reported. Reported figures are Fast Retailing’s. Changes, shares and margins are Balancio calculations, and management statements are labelled as such.

Formulas.

• Contribution to change = region value in the current year − region value in the prior year, using reported values for both years. Example: Europe FY2026 = 512.6 − 369.5 = +143.1.
• Share of change = regional change ÷ sum of regional changes. Example: 190.0 ÷ 500.7 = 37.9%.
• Revenue mix = region revenue ÷ sum of the four regions. Example: (364.9 + 512.6) ÷ 2,410.9 = 36.4%.
• Business-profit margin = regional business profit ÷ regional revenue. Example: 168.3 ÷ 809.4 = 20.8%.
• Check on rounded growth rates: prior year implied by the current year’s growth rate = current value ÷ (1 + growth rate). Implied FY2025 values match reported FY2025 values within ¥0.3 billion, so reported values are used throughout.

Sources.

• Fast Retailing, Results Summary for Fiscal 2026 and summary PDF, published 8 Oct 2026, pp. 2–4.
• Fast Retailing, FY2026 results presentation (PDF), Oct 2026: slide 11 (local-currency growth), slides 12–16 (regional margins and commentary), slides 23–24 (FY2027 outlook), slides 29–30 (store counts).
• Fast Retailing, Results Summary for FY2025 (PDF), published 9 Oct 2025, p. 3.
• Fast Retailing, Results Summary for FY2024 (PDF), Oct 2024, pp. 3–4.
• Fast Retailing, Performance by Business Segment (5-year) and Foreign Exchange Rates (5-year), last updated 15 Oct 2026, accessed 9 Nov 2026.

Independence. This is independent research by Balancio Indo using public information only. It has not been sponsored, reviewed or approved by Fast Retailing Co., Ltd. or UNIQLO. Nothing in it is investment advice.