As per the latest World Bank report titled ‘Stitches to Riches: Apparel Employment, Trade and Economic Development’, in view of rising wages in China, the global garment industry will shift for cheaper production alternatives in South Asia. This move is expected to create 1.5 million new jobs in the South Asian countries.
The report further mentions that the Southeast Asian countries – Cambodia, Indonesia and Vietnam are outperforming the South Asian ones – Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, in terms of overall apparel export performance, product diversity and non-cost related factors important to global buyers. Furthermore, if the labour costs in China surge by just 10 per cent, South Asia’s exports to key markets like the US and EU would increase by 13-25 per cent while the Southeast Asian countries would fare even better, with a 37-51 per cent increase.
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Although China still dominates the global apparel market with a share of 41 per cent to that of 12 per cent of South Asia, sourcing in China is becoming increasingly costly for important export markets like the US and EU that are already scouting for alternatives. It may be mentioned here that among the South Asian countries, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Pakistan are considered big winners in terms of garment exports to the US, states the World Bank report.
Bharat Tex Special Report 2026 
