As a single country, Bangladesh retained the second top position in the world in the export of ready-made garments in 2023 as well. Vietnam ranks third in exporting ready-made garments worth $7 billion less than Bangladesh. And as always, China is at the top.
This figure has emerged in the ‘World Trade Statistical Review 2023’ report of World Trade Organization (WTO). The report was published on the organization’s website last Thursday night. With this, for the third time in a row, Bangladesh showed the achievement of retaining the second position in the export of ready-made garments in the world market.
According to WTO statistics, last year Bangladesh exported garments worth $38 billion. In the previous year, i.e. in 2022, Bangladesh’s garment export amount was $45 billion. In other words, garment exports decreased by $7 billion compared to the previous year. Due to the decline in exports, there has been a change in the share of apparel exports in the world market. Last year, Bangladesh’s share in the world market stood at 7.38 percent. In 2022, Bangladesh’s share in global garment exports was 7.90 percent.
On the other hand, last year, China exported the highest $165 billion worth of ready-made garments to the world market. The previous year their export was $182 billion. That is, last year the export of clothing from China decreased by $17 billion. The country’s share also fell to 31.64 percent due to the decrease in exports. Vietnam, Bangladesh’s main competitor in garment exports, exported garments worth $31 billion last year. The country’s share in the world market is 5.96 percent.
The fourth and fifth largest exporters of ready-made garments in the world are Türkiye and India respectively. In 2023, Turkey exported $19 billion and India $15 billion of ready-made garments. In addition, Indonesia and Cambodia exported $8 billion worth of garments last year. On the other hand, the amount of exports of clothing made by the United States and Hong Kong is $7 billion.