Bangladesh’s apparel exports to the European Union declined by 3.51 per cent in the first eight months of 2024 (January–August), largely due to a sharp drop in knitwear earnings and modest growth in woven garment exports.

Eurostat, the statistical office of the EU, reported that Bangladesh’s export revenues from the 27-nation economic bloc dropped to 11.90 billion euro in the January–August 2024 period, down from 12.34 billion euro in the same period in 2023.

The data indicated that Bangladesh’s negative export growth on the EU market had been steadily decreasing alongside a gradual increase in overall apparel imports by the EU.

The overall imports of apparel by the EU in the first eight months of 2024 decreased by 3.62 per to 54.69 billion euros from 56.74 billion euros in the same period of the previous year.

Bangladesh’s knitwear exports to the EU in January-August of 2024 fell by 6.51 per cent to 6.97 billion euros from 7.45 billion euros in the same period of 2023.

The country’s woven garment exports to the EU in the first eight months of 2024, however, increased by 1.05 per cent to 4.94 billion euros from 4.89 billion euros in the same period of the previous year.

The data showed that the EU’s apparel imports from almost all the major supplier countries registered negative growth in the period, except for that from Pakistan.

Pakistan’s readymade garment exports to the EU witnessed a notable increase as both the knitwear and woven subsectors of the country contributed positively.

The EU’s apparel imports from China in January-August of 2024 fell by 4.11 per cent to 14.39 billion euros from 15 billion euros in the same period of 2023.

The EU’s apparel imports from Turkey in the first eight months of 2024 declined by 7.51 per cent to 6.31 billion euros from 6.82 billion euros in the same period of 2023.

The EU’s apparel imports from India decreased by 2.67 per cent, reporting total exports of 3.08 billion euros in the first eight months of 2024 compared with that of 3.17 billion euros in the same period of the past year.

Vietnam also faced a decline of 2.11 per cent with total exports decreasing from 2.50 billion euros to 2.44 billion euros.

Pakistan’s apparel exports to the EU grew by 7.31 per cent in January-August of 2024, increasing to 2.24 billion euros from 2.09 billion euros in the same period of 2023, the Eurostat data showed.