Bangladesh’s readymade garment exports to the European Union in January-April of 2024 fell by 9.85% to 6.01 billion euros compared to 6.67 billion euros in the same period of 2023, according to data released by Eurostat, statistical office of the European Union.
Exporters said that Bangladesh managed to reduce its negative apparel export growth in the EU, the 27-nation economic bloc, slightly but still performed worse compared with competitors.
They said that, like the United States, Bangladesh lagged behind its competitors in the EU market due to severe energy crisis, high cost of utilities, increased cost of production, long lead times and cumbersome customs procedures.
RMG exporters noted that overall apparel imports by the EU declined due to the global economic slowdown.
The EU data showed that Bangladesh’s knitwear exports to the EU in January-April of 2024 dropped to 3.38 billion euros from 3.88 billion euros in the same period of 2023.
Similarly, the country’s woven garment exports to the EU in the first four months of 2024 declined to 2.64 billion euros from 2.79 billion euros in the same period of 2023.
According to Eurostat data, clothing imports by the EU from different countries in January-April of 2024 decreased by 6.28% totalling 26.41 billion euros compared with those of 28.19 billion euros in the same period of 2023.
The EU data showed that apparel imports by the EU from China in January-April 2024 decreased by 1.81% to 6.54 billion euros, down from 6.66 billion euros in the same period of 2023.
EU apparel imports from Turkey in the first four months of 2024 declined by 11.84% to 3.03 billion euros compared with those of 3.44 billion euros in the same period of the previous year.
India’s RMG exports to the EU in January-April 2024 dropped by 10.74% to 1.53 billion euros, down from 1.71 billion euros in the same period of 2023.
Apparel imports by the EU from Vietnam in the first four months of 2024 fell by 6.25% to 1.17 billion euros, compared with those of 1.25 billion euros in the same period of 2023, according to the data.
Bangladesh also saw a negative growth of over 14% in apparel exports to the US, the largest export destination of the country, earning $2.30 billion during the January-April period of 2024, as reported by the US Department of Commerce’s Office of Textiles and Apparel.
