The country’s export earnings in the ready-made garments sector increased rapidly from different countries across the World despite the economic crisis.
Economists said different countries in the world are facing economic crises due to higher inflation caused by the Ukraine-Russia war.
Despite the crisis, developed countries are importing more clothes from Bangladesh than before, they said, adding that Bangladesh holds the second position in the European market and the third position in the US market in the export of ready-made garments.
According to the data released recently by the US official source, Office of Textiles and Apparel (OTEXA) and the European statistical agency Eurostat, in the first 9 months of this year (January-September), Bangladesh has exported more clothes than ever before. Bangladesh's garment exports to European Union (EU) countries increased by 43.21 percent to $17.56 billion in the first 9 months of this year over that in the same period of the previous year, according to the statistics of Eurostat latest data.
Bangladesh ranked second in garment exports to Europe with a share of 22.56 percent while China was the top in this region with a share of 29.4 percent.
The EU imported $22.59 billion worth of apparel products from China in the first nine months of 2022, up 25.19 percent from the same time of the previous year.
At this time, the EU imported $9.19 billion of apparel goods from Turkey during the time.
Turkey was the EU’s third largest apparel market. On the other hand, the European Union's imports from India increased by 15.85 percent.
Among the top 10 apparel suppliers in the European Union, Bangladesh has achieved the highest growth. It was followed by Cambodia 41.8 percent, Indonesia 33.46 percent and Pakistan 30.76 percent respectively.
According to Otexa data, in the first 9 months of this year, the United States imported clothes worth $7.55 billion from Bangladesh, up 50.98 percent from the same period of previous year.
Exports of manufactured garments to the US market have increased over the past two years.
Mohiuddin Rubel, director of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), told Bangladesh Post that Bangladesh exported garments to the US market at a higher rate than its three main rival countries despite the disappointing global economy and rising inflation.
“The European Union's clothing imports from Bangladesh increased by 43.21 percent to $17.56 billion US, while their imports from the world increased by 27.87 percent. This is certainly promising. However, due to the Russia-Ukraine war, inflation in the EU has skyrocketed. Due to this, the sale of clothes in the sales centers of the brands has decreased slightly,” he mentioned.
And according to Otexa data, during January-September of this year, the United States' clothing imports from the world increased by 34.61 percent. Bangladesh remains the third largest source of apparel imports for the US with a share of 8.54 percent.
China was the largest apparel supplier to the US with a 22.48 percent share.