Dhaka Bureau: In the four months from July to October of the current financial year, exports of ready-made garments to the European Union (EU) were worth 7.6 billion dollars, which is 3.99 percent more than the same period of the last financial year. According to the latest statistics of the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB), garment industry owners’ organization BGMEA said that during the July–October 2023–24 fiscal year, Spain, France, the Netherlands, and Italy exported 18.07 percent, 2.56 percent, and 2.56 percent, respectively, to Bangladesh. There has been growth of 12.73 percent and 9.88 percent. On the other hand, exports to Germany, the EU’s largest export market, declined by 11.49 percent to USD 1.81 billion in July–October 2023–24 from USD 2.04 billion in July–October 2022–23.
Our apparel exports to the US during July–October 2023–24 were USD 2.57 billion, with a year-on-year growth of 3.05 percent. During the same period, exports to the UK and Canada reached USD 1.8 billion and USD 462.86 million with 14.63 percent (positive) growth and 1.53 percent negative growth, respectively.
In this regard, BGMEA spokesperson Mohiuddin Rubel said, ‘Our garment exports to non-traditional markets increased by 17.01 percent to 2.86 billion US dollars from 2.45 billion US dollars in the same period of the previous year during the July–October 2023–24 fiscal year. Among the major non-traditional markets, exports to Japan, Australia, and South Korea increased by 23.03 percent, 45.44 percent, and 29.85 percent, respectively. However, our garment exports to India fell by 12.8 percent.
It may be noted that during July–October 2023–24, the total exports to the world were 14.78 billion US dollars, which is an increase of 5.95 percent compared to 13.95 billion US dollars in the same period a year ago.
