Bangladesh’s apparel export earnings saw a notable increase of 10.64 per cent during the first eight months (July-February) of the 2024-25 fiscal year, reaching US $ 26.8 billion, according to a report released by the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) on March 4.
The report indicates that the apparel sector’s earnings rose from US $ 24.2 billion in the same period last year to US $ 26.7964 billion this fiscal year. Of this total, knitwear exports contributed significantly, generating US $ 14.344 billion, a year-on-year increase of 11.01 per cent.
Woven garment exports also saw a rise, bringing in US $ 12.456 billion, which marks a 10.22 per cent increase compared to the previous year’s US $ 11.3014 billion.
Overall, the export figures for goods in the first eight months of the current fiscal year amounted to US $ 32.94 billion, up from US $ 29.8 billion during the same period last year. This represents a total export growth of 10.53 per cent, with apparel accounting for a remarkable 81 per cent of the total.
In February alone, apparel export earnings increased by 1.66 per cent, totaling US $ 3.244 billion, compared to US $ 3.1914 billion in February of the previous year. Within this, knitwear exports rose by 3.77 per cent to US $ 1.6527 billion, while woven garment exports experienced a slight decline of 0.44 per cent, amounting to US $ 1.5916 billion.
Additionally, while the exports of apparel and leather products grew in February, with leather exports spiking by 34.37 per cent to US $ 88.4 million — exports of home textiles and jute products faced challenges. Jute exports fell by 11.39 per cent to US $ 63.5 million, down from US $ 71.4 million last year, and home textiles saw a minor decrease of 0.23 per cent.
