Bangladesh Ranks Fourth in Global Apparel Exports

Bangladesh has ranked fourth in the global apparel exports and grabbed 3 percent market share, according to a recent World Trade Organisation (WTO) report.

Bangladesh secured the fourth position in terms of value followed by China, EU-27 countries and Turkey, said the report.

According to the report, China exported apparel items worth $115billion, EU-27 countries $103.40 billion, Turkey $14 billion and Bangladesh more than $10 billion.

The report was prepared on the basis of export data of 2007 of the respective countries.

Faruque Hassan, vice-president of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), said the latest position of Bangladesh might be third in terms of value and volume, as apparel exports have maintained steep growth over the last few years.

Apparel exports of the competing countries increased in some markets but decreased in some others, while Bangladesh's growth was steady in all the markets, he said.

On the basis of BGMEA data, he said volume-wise Bangladesh's position was second in knitwear exports last year, followed by China.

Hassan said the three-decade old garment industry of Bangladesh has transformed on its own into a global sourcing hub.

Bangladesh was the largest exporter of cotton T-shirts and was second for cotton pullover and jeans exports to European countries in 2009. In terms of volume, the country was the second largest exporter of cotton trousers to the US last year, he added.

The BGMEA data also said Bangladesh exported 127.14 million dozens of woven garments and 206.20 million dozens of knitwear during the July-March period of fiscal 2009-10.

The exports were 169.59 million dozens of woven and 290.92 million dozens of knit in fiscal 2008-09.

The latest data from state-owned Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) said Bangladesh fetched $12.59 billion from garment exports last fiscal year, and contributed around 80 percent to national exports.

Of the total amount, the country exported knitwear items worth $6.48 billion, and woven worth $6.01 billion, registering a 0.84 percent and 1.60 percent growth respectively, according to the EPB data.

Bangladesh also exported terry towel worth $157.07 million, textile fabrics worth $8.22 million, knitted fabrics worth $20.68 million and home textile worth $539.28 million in fiscal 2009-10.

Last year Bangladesh also explored some new export destinations such as Japan