World’s 2nd largest garment exporter Bangladesh has become the number one knitwear garment exporter to European Union (EU), with an impressive $9 billion export in the first three quarters of 2023. Bangladesh has overtaken global giant China as the leading knitwear garment exporter to the 27-nation economic bloc, EU market for the first time, both in dollar value and volume.
This significant milestone, observed from January to September 2023, follows Bangladesh’s prior dominance in denim
exports to the European markets. Eu-
rostat, the statistical office of the European Union, reports that Bangladesh’s knitwear garment exports to EU reached an impressive $9 billion in the first three quarters of 2023. This narrowly edged out China, which exported $8.96 billion worth of knitwear during the same period.
Despite this accomplishment, both Bangladesh and China experienced declines in knitwear exports, with Bangladesh witnessing a 20.94% decrease from the previous year. This dip is attributed to sluggish demand amid high inflation in the EU. Similarly, China, the world’s largest apparel exporter, faced a 21.51 % decline in the same period.
In terms of weight, the EU’s import from Bangladesh was 571 million kilograms and it was 442 million kgs from China. The EU’s clothing sourcing in volume from Bangladesh exceeded that of China for the first time in 2022. Last year, EU’s clothing import from Bangladesh reached 1.33 billion kgs against 1.31 billion kgs from China.
In terms of value, however, the clothing import was $7.3 billion less than China’s. The cotton apparel market in the US was worth $47.50 billion in 2022, giving Ban-
gladesh a share of 14.55 percent in the
year. In 2022, the volume of the EU’s clothing imports from Bangladesh exceeded those from China. However, in terms of value, Bangladesh fell short by $7.3 billion compared to China.
The significance of Bangladesh as a sourcing destination is further evident in its top-ranking position for denim sourcing in the USA in 2020, surpassing Mexico. While Bangladesh briefly secured the top spot for ‘cotton apparel’ sourcing in the USA during January-June 2023, a slight setback occurred in the subsequent months due to Vietnam’s rebound in exports.
Eurostat data reveals a downturn in the European Union’s knitwear sector, experiencing a 17.71% decline amounting to €31.94 billion in the January-September period compared to the previous year.Sluggish demand for apparel products in the EU led to a 17.66% year-on-year decline in apparel exports to the region, totaling €13.69 billion. China’s exports also declined by 20.17% to €17.12 billion in the same period.
Despite a decline in apparel exports to the United States by 23.33% year-on-year to $5.78 billion, Bangladesh continues to outperform its competitors in the face of a shrinking global apparel market.
