For the first time ever, Pakistan is likely to cross US $ 2 billion export value in the US market by 2021 end – this was the prediction made by team Apparel Resources back in November 2021 while analysing Jan.-Sep. ’21 import data of USA.
The recent apparel import data of USA, released by OTEXA, puts the stamp on this prediction as Pakistan has clocked US $ 2.22 billion export revenues in the US apparel market in 2021, noting 58.23 per cent Y-o-Y growth.
Pakistan’s growth is not one-off instance as the country has been performing well in the global apparel market, particularly in the USA, ever since pandemic has wreaked havoc.
Even in 2020, when all other Asian countries declined significantly in their apparel exports to USA as compared to 2019, Pakistan remained resilient and saw a drop of just 4.70 per cent despite global turbulence in the apparel industry.
As compared to pre-pandemic year 2019, Pakistan’s apparel shipment to USA grew by 52 per cent in 2021, majorly due to strong shipment of cotton-made apparels.
The growth is said to be accelerated due to USA’s ban on the Chinese cotton that made buyers shift towards Pakistan, which also has a traditional and well-established cotton supply chain.
Of total apparel shipment to USA from Pakistan, cotton-made apparels contributed US $ 1.99 billion (up 61.76 per cent), while the share of MMF apparels remained as low as US $ 220.24 million, which noted 32 per cent Y-o-Y growth.
