As a single country, Bangladesh also retained the second top position in the world in the export of ready-made garments in 2023. Vietnam ranks third in exporting ready-made garments worth US $ 7 billion less than Bangladesh. And as always, China is at the top.

This figure emerged in the ‘World Trade Statistical Review 2023’ World Trade Organization (WTO) report. With this, for the third time in a row, Bangladesh showed the achievement of retaining the second position in the export of ready-made garments in the world market.

WTO figures show that Bangladesh exported US $ 38 billion worth of clothing last year. Bangladesh exported US $ 45 billion worth of clothing the year before, or in 2022. Put otherwise, there was a US $ 7 billion decline in apparel exports from the prior year. The share of garment exports in the global market has changed as a result of the drop in exports. Bangladesh held a 7.38 per cent share in the global market the previous year. Bangladesh accounted for 7.90 per cent of the world’s garment exports in 2022.

However, China exported the most ready-made clothing to the global market last year, valued at US $ 165 billion. Their exports were US $ 182 billion the year before. In other words, China’s apparel exports dropped by US $ 17 billion last year. The decline in exports also caused the country’s share to drop to 31.64 percent. The primary rival of Bangladesh in the export of apparel, Vietnam, shipped US $ 31 billion worth of apparel last year. The nation holds a 5.96 per cent stake in the global market.

The fourth and fifth largest exporters of ready-made garments in the world are Türkiye and India respectively. In 2023, Turkey exported US $ 19 billion and India US $ 15 billion of ready-made garments. In addition, Indonesia and Cambodia exported US $ 8 billion worth of garments last year. Conversely, US $ 7 billion worth of apparel is exported from Hong Kong and the United States.