Despite the economic slowdown resulting from the Russia-Ukraine war, Bangladesh’s apparel exports experienced a significant surge in European markets during the fiscal year 2022-23.
According to the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB), apparel exports to European Union countries witnessed a year-on-year growth of 9.93 per cent, reaching approximately US $ 23.52 billion in the fiscal year 2022-23.
In FY ’23, the UK market not only witnessed a remarkable year-on-year growth of 11.78 per cent, surpassing the US $ 5 billion mark but also exceeded the previous fiscal year’s earnings of US $ 4.50 billion.
As per exporters, the growth can be attributed to a rise in exports of certain high-value products, as well as the elevated costs of raw materials and freight and forwarding.
The exporters attributed this trend to the relatively stronger economic performances of these markets in comparison to their Western counterparts, which are grappling with challenges stemming from the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war.
They further noted that non-traditional markets have also exhibited positive performance in the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic shock. However, despite these factors, the overall volume of apparel exports remained low year-on-year in FY ’23.
Bangladesh’s apparel exports to non-traditional markets surged by 31.38 per cent to $8.37 billion in FY ’23, accounting for 17.82 per cent of total shipments. The Canadian market grew by 16.55 per cent to $1.54 billion, while apparel shipments to the US and Germany declined by 6.81 per cent and 5.51 per cent respectively, with exports reaching US $ 8.51 billion and US $ 6.68 billion.
