The exports of readymade garments from Bangladesh increased by 15.38 percent to US$ 19.97 billion during the first ten months of the ongoing fiscal year 2013-14, as against exports of $17.307 billion made during the corresponding period of the previous fiscal, as per the latest data released by the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB).
Segment-wise, woven apparel exports grew by 13.91 percent year-on-year to $10.166 billion during July-April 2013-14 period, whereas knitwear exports soared by 16.96 percent to $9.803 billion.
Knitwear and woven garments together accounted for 81 percent of total $24.654 billion exports made by the South Asian nation during the ten-month period beginning July 1, 2014.
The 15.38 percent growth in clothing exports was greater than the 13.18 percent growth registered in overall exports from Bangladesh during the period under review.
In the first half of the current financial year, Bangladesh’s garment exports grew at 19.95 percent year-on-year. But, the growth rate has dropped a little bit thereafter, mainly due to the implementation of the 76.66 percent rise in minimum wage for entry-level workers in the clothing industry since December 1, 2013.
Last month, Bangladesh’s Parliamentary Standing Committee on Textiles and Jute Ministry recommended increased allocation to the sector in the next fiscal year beginning July 1, 2014, for the overall development of textile and jute sectors. The committee observed that the Tk 1.21 billion allocated for the textiles and jute sector in the 2013-14 annual development programme (ADP) was inadequate and recommended increasing the allocation in the next fiscal year.
With the presence of more than 5,000 garment factories that together employ nearly 4.2 million workers, Bangladesh is currently the second-largest garment exporter in the world, next only to China.
In last fiscal year 2012-13, Bangladesh exported $11.039 billion worth of woven garments and $10.475 billion worth of knitwear.
