Photo: Collected
According to figures issued on Thursday (19 January) by the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB), garment exports to the European Union (EU) fell by 1.24 percent to $11.36 billion during the July–December period, or the first half of the current fiscal year.
Due to a huge level of unsold clothes inventory in the stores of Western retailers and brands, coupled with significant inflationary pressure on consumers, last year's apparel shipment season was lackluster.
Apparel exports to Italy declined by 3.89 percent, the EPB data showed.
Besides the EU region, RMG export to the USA, the single biggest market for Bangladesh, fell 5.69 percent year-on-year to $4.03 billion in the first six months of the fiscal year.
RMG exports to Canada increased 4% year on year to $741.94 million in the first six months of FY24.
At the same time, garment exports to the UK totaled $2.71 billion, up 13.24 percent year on year.
The BGMEA reported that garment exports to non-traditional destinations increased by 12.28 percent to $4.53 billion between July and December.
Exports to large non-traditional markets such as Japan, Australia, and South Korea grew.
However, garment exports to India fell by 17.27 percent, according to EPB data.
Messenger/Sun Yath
