Bangladesh tops China in knitwear exports

Farhad Chowdhury: Bangladesh has occupied the top position in the export of knitwear to the European Union (EU), leaving behind its main rival, China. From January to September this year-in these 9 months, Bangladeshi exporters have exported net garments worth $9 billion and China exported $8.96 billion.
BGMEA has informed this information on Monday. This is the first time in the history of garment exports to the EU that China has overtaken Bangladesh in terms of value.
According to BGMEA data, Bangladesh overtook China to occupy the top position in the EU in terms of net exports, but China still holds the top position in overall garment exports.
In the first nine months of this year, China’s total ready-made garment exports to the EU were over $18.55 billion in terms of garment value; On the other hand, Bangladesh’s total export of ready-made garments was $14.82 billion. China exported nearly $4 billion more garments than Bangladesh.

In a letter written to the members of BGMEA to achieve Bangladesh’s top position in net exports to the EU market, Farooq Hasan, president of the organization, said, ‘We have almost reached the end of the eventful year 2023. Despite facing various challenges at the local and international levels, the ready-made garment industry has been showing potential.
Farooq Hasan also said, ‘One of the reasons for Bangladesh’s good export of knitwear to the EU is the recent investment by investors in the production of high-value garments.’
In addition to rising to the top position in terms of price, Bangladesh has also overtaken China in terms of the quantity of manufactured garments. Bangladesh has exported 571 million kg net in the first 9 months of this year. On the other hand, 442 million kg was exported from China during this period.
According to BGMEA, even in 2022, Bangladesh surpasses China in terms of quantity of knitwear. In 2022, total apparel exports to the EU in terms of volume were 1.33 billion kgs.
On the other hand, China exported 1.31 billion kgs of garments. Despite exporting more clothes in terms of quantity, Bangladesh has managed to earn $7.3 billion less than China in terms of value.
According to BGMEA data, from January to September, in these 9 months, China has overtaken China in exporting knitwear to the EU, but China is ahead of Bangladesh in exporting ovens. Bangladesh exported ovens in the first 9 months of this year worth a little over $5.82 billion. On the other hand, during the same period, China’s oven exports were more than $9.59 billion.