The readymade garment exports to the United States, the single largest export destination of Bangladesh, witnessed a robust growth of 45.93 per cent in January of 2025 to $799.65 million, according to the latest data published by the Office of Textiles and Apparel (Otexa).
According to the Otexa data, Bangladeshi exporters shipped RMG items worth $547.95 million in the same month of 2024.
In January 2025, the growth rate of Bangladesh outplayed all other major competitors, including Indonesia (41.70 per cent), India (33.64 per cent), and Vietnam (19.90 per cent).
In the mentioned month, the North American country imported RMG items worth $7.20 billion from its global suppliers, which was 19.46 per cent higher from $6.03 billion of January of 2024.
In terms of volume, Bangladesh RMG exports to the US in January of 2025 saw a positive growth of 49.21 per cent to 261.3 million square metres from 175.12 million square metres of January of 2024, Otexa data stated.
In January 2025, Bangladesh market share was 9.44 per cent in the North American country.
According to the Otexa data, China and Vietnam remained the first and second highest exporters to the US market in January 2025, respectively.
Among the other major suppliers, US apparel imports from China in January experienced a positive growth of 13.72 per cent to $1.6 billion from $1.41 billion in the mentioned period of 2025. China has a market share of 20.77 per cent.
Vietnam exported apparel items worth $1.45 billion in the first month of 2025, fetching a positive growth of 19.9 per cent from $1.2 billion in the same period of 2024, claiming a market share of 18.92 per cent, Otexa data stated.
Followed by Bangladesh, India secured the fourth position by exporting apparel items worth $473.27 million in January of 2025, registering a positive growth of 33.64 per cent from $354.14 million in January of 2024, with a market share of 5.98 per cent in the US.
According to the Otexa data, the US RMG imports from Indonesia surged by 41.7 per cent to $419.95 million, while the imports from Cambodia increased by 29.95 per cent to $324.98 million in the same period, which made them the fifth and sixth with a market share of 5.44 per cent and 4.82 per cent, respectively.
However, the import from Mexico witnessed a thin growth of 1.26 per cent and from Honduras witnessed a negative growth of 26.10 per cent demonstrated the diversified sourcing of the US.
Mohiuddin Rubel, former director of the BGMEA, said that the diversification of sourcing by US retailers and Bangladesh’s ongoing efforts to enhance factory compliance and sustainability, has strengthened its position in the global apparel markets.
He also said that as Bangladesh continues to invest in sustainability and innovation, the country’s apparel sector is poised for continued growth, also emphasized the need to diversify products and other policy supports.
According to the Otexa data, Bangladesh’s apparel exports to the US in 2024 saw a marginal 0.75 per cent growth to reach $7.34 billion compared with those of $7.29 billion in 2023 amid fluctuations in shipments throughout the year.
