In the first 11 months of 2020 (January and November), Bangladesh exported face masks worth US $ 95.9 million, thereby contributing to the diversification of the export basket. This was underlined in recent media reports, which cited the figures (related to face masks export) from the Trade Data Monitor (TDM), which is considered a top source of trade statistics globally. As per the TDM, during the January-November period, Bangladesh exported masks worth nearly US $ 40 million to the USA (mostly surgical and KN95 masks), which, reportedly, accounted for over 41 per cent of the total shipment even as Germany became the second biggest importing country of the face masks from Bangladesh while Canada imported Bangladeshi masks worth US $ 7.7 million during the 11-month period thereby making the North American nation the third biggest importing country of the Bangladeshi product whereas the United Kingdom, France and Poland are, reportedly, the other countries that imported face masks from Bangladesh. However, as some countries import masks by piece count while many others by kilogram — Canada imports by kilogram while USA imports by piece count — the TDM could not make available data pertaining to the quantity of masks exported by Bangladesh.
