Bangladesh’s export earnings in the first quarter (July-September) of the current financial year 2024-25 increased by 5.04 per cent, despite production disruptions in the industrial sector due to a student movement, curfews, and labour unrest during this period.

According to government officials responsible for calculating export data, Bangladesh’s export earnings for the July-September period of FY25 reached $11.37 billion, up from $10.82 billion in the same period of FY24.

Exporters have described the growth figure as unrealistic, contending that industrial production was significantly affected during this time by a combination of factors, including the student movement, imposition of curfews, and labour agitation.

Previously, the Export Promotion Bureau published export figures on a monthly basis.

However, it halted such publications in June following the surfacing of discrepancies in export data.

Although the EPB has suspended publicising export figures, it continues to prepare statistics on actual exports and provides the data to the commerce ministry by compiling shipment information from the National Board of Revenue.

According to the sources, Bangladesh’s export earnings in September 2024 grew by 6.78 per cent to $3.51 billion year-on-year compared with those of $3.29 billion in the same month of 2023.

The Bangladesh Bank-published data showed that the single month export earnings in July 2024 grew by 2.9 per cent year-on-year to $3.82 billion compared with those of $3.72 billion in the same month of 2023.

The single month export earnings data for August 24 was not available.

According to the latest statistics prepared by the NBR, the country’s earnings from readymade garment exports in the July-September period of FY25 increased by 5.34 per cent to $9.29 billion compared with those of $8.81 billion in the same period of FY24.

It also showed that export earnings from knitwear in the first quarter of FY25 increased by 5.72 per cent to $5.22 billion compared with those of $4.94 billion in the same period of FY24.

Earnings from woven garments in the July-September period of FY25 rose by 4.85 per cent to $4.07 billion compared with those of $3.88 billion in the same period of FY24.

‘I believe the statistics indicating over 5 per cent growth in export earnings from readymade garments are not realistic, as manufacturers encountered a student movement, curfews, political unrests and labour agitation throughout the first quarter of FY25,’ said Mohammad Hatem, president of the Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association.

He said that productions and shipments were severely affected over the past three months, and therefore, the actual export growth should be negative.

‘The growth of utilisation permission, which is issued by the BKMEA to its member factories, experienced a decline during this period,’ Hatem claimed.

According to the data, export earnings from leather and leather goods in the first quarter of FY25 rose by 11.16 per cent to $283.39 million compared with those of $254.94 million in the same period of FY24.

In September, the commerce ministry set an export target of $50 billion for goods, with a 12.44-per cent growth.

The export earnings target for readymade garments in FY25 has been set at $40.48 billion, with an 11.99-per cent growth.

The commerce ministry has set the export earnings target for FY25 at $21.07 billion for knitwear, having a 12.54-per cent growth, and $18.78 billion for woven garments, with an 11.36-per cent growth.

Before setting the export earnings targets, the EPB revised the earnings for FY24 downward by more than $10.81 billion to $44.46 billion, which was 4.22 per cent lower than the $46.43 billion earned in FY23.

After excluding double entries, the country’s export earnings for FY23 decreased by $9.06 billion, from the previously reported $55.56 billion.

There was a total decrease of $19.88 billion in export earnings over the past two financial years, official data showed.