Bangladesh garment sector sees 13.28% export growth despite political unrest

Earlier, apparel exports were worth $17.5569 billion in the first six months of the 2023-24 fiscal year. According to the statistics published by the Bangladesh Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) based on data collected from the National Board of Revenue (NBR), the country’s ready-made garment sector exports grew by 13.28 percent in the first half of the fiscal year.

As the anti-discrimination movement intensified in July, it had an impact on the country’s industrial areas. Production was disrupted. Even after the fall of the Sheikh Hasina government in August, unrest and discontent continued. But despite the adverse situation, garment industry entrepreneurs and workers have kept production and export activities going.

According to EPB statistics, the largest contributor to total exports was apparel, accounting for 81 percent. In the first half of the current fiscal year, Bangladesh exported a total of $24.53 billion worth of goods to the global market. Of this, $19.88 billion worth of goods were ready-made garments.

As a single month, Bangladesh exported goods worth $4.62 billion to the world market in December. In the same month of 2023, goods worth $3.93 billion were exported. Accordingly, exports in December increased by 17.72 percent compared to the same period of the previous year.

According to EPB data, the export value of ready-made garments, which accounts for the largest share of exports, was $3.7751 billion in December alone. Of this, the export value of woven ready-made garment products was $1.8787 billion. The export value of knitwear products was $1.8918 billion.

Meanwhile, the export value of woven ready-made garment products in the six months from July to December was $9.0533 billion. The export value of knitwear products was $1.8373 billion.