06 March 2023, Mumbai
It's worth noting that despite the global geopolitical tensions and predicted economic slowdown, the RMG industry in Bangladesh is showing some promising signs of growth.
This is due in part to significant investments in backward linkage and the production of high-end sophisticated fashion items like jackets, activewear, and suits.
As per the statistics compiled by BGMEA from the EPB’s export data for the period of July-February of the fiscal year 2022-23(for the period mentioned July 2022 to February 2023) :
- Overall RMG export grew by 14.06% during the mentioned period of time on a year-over-year comparison.
- Bangladesh’s RMG export to the world was US$ 31.36 billion which is 84.58% of total national export.
- Export earnings from knitwear fetched US$17.06 billion, with 13.21% year-over-year growth.
- Export earnings from woven garments fetched US$14.30 billion, with 15.08% year-over-year growth.
- During the month of February 2023, RMG export stood at US$ 3.94 billion with 12.31% year-on-year growth, which was the lowest export within the last consecutive four months (from November to February).
Additionally, the industry's export to non-traditional markets is also increasing significantly. However, it's expected that future growth may be value-based rather than quantity-based due to the industry's progression to higher unit-value items.
Though the sources mentioned categorically, yet to compile the country-wise export data for this sector Putting the sector in quick perspective in Bangladesh's overall economy, the share of RMG in total export of Bangladesh has gone up to 83.57% in 2022 which was 80.98% in 2021.