The knitwear segment has retained its position as Bangladesh’s biggest exports earner in the readymade garment sector and among all the sectors of Bangladesh in 2020-21 and in last fiscal year as well, even though in between the woven sub-sector overtook knitwear in terms of exports.
Media reports maintained this adding the knitwear segment overtook the woven sub-sector for the first time in the financial year of 2007-08 and held the pole position until 2010-11 before woven outran the knitwear segment in 2011-12 to continue its dominance till 2019-20.
However, in 2020-21, knitwear was able to recapture its lost glory (as the highest export earner) and continued to outrun woven in the last fiscal year as well when it brought home US $ 23.21 billion in exports compared to woven’s US $ 19.40 billion.
Further, as per reports, in the July to September period, the first quarter of the current financial year when overall export earnings showed a falling trend, the knitwear segment grew 9.40 per cent year-on-year to US $ 5.64 billion and what’s more even during the Covid-19 pandemic, knitwear export was able to put up a good show.
Meanwhile, speaking to the media, Managing Director of Plummy Fashions (a Narayanganj-based knitwear exporter) Md Fazlul Hoque reportedly underlined that it was surprising that the demand for knit items climbed up even during the Coronavirus pandemic while claiming, “The use of knitwear items has risen as consumers spent more time at home.”
