Bizbd Report: March 18, 2024, Monday

Bangladesh’s apparel exports to the European Union in January, the first month of 2024, declined by nearly 34 per cent in value as consumers decreased their spending on clothing due to economic slowdown in the bloc.

According to data released from Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union, on Monday, the country’s apparel exports to the EU in January 2024 fell by 33.92 per cent to $1.19 billion euro compared with those of 1.80 billion euro in the same month of 2023.

Exporters said that that the overall demand for readymade garment declined around the globe, including the EU and the United States, due to the economic slowdown caused by the Russia-Ukraine war.

They said that the Eurostat data was prepared based on goods that were received from ports in January, but were shipped from Bangladesh in November and December of 2023.

Exporters said that 2023 was very challenging for the apparel exporters and not only Bangladesh but also all the RMG exporting nations faced difficulties in the year.

They claimed that the situation started improving as demand for apparel increased on the western markets and the volume of export orders had been increasing in Bangladesh.

The readymade garment imports by the EU from different countries in the first month of 2024 fell by 22.91 per cent to 6.25 billion euro compared with those of 7.9 billion euro in the same month of 2023.

The data showed that apparel imports by the EU from China in January 2024 declined by 22.05 per cent to 1.68 billion euro compared with those of 2.16 billion euro in the same month of the previous year.

The position of China as the top apparel exporter to the EU remained unchanged while Bangladesh and Turkey remained as the second and third highest exporters respectively.

Apparel imports of the EU from Turkey in in the first month of 2024 declined by 9.2 per cent to 827.70 million euro from 911.62 million euro in the same month of 2023, the Eurostat data showed.

India’s RMG exports to the EU in January 2024 fell by 34.47 per cent to 270.72 million euro compared with those of 413.14 million euro in 2023.

Apparel imports of the EU from Vietnam in the first month of 2024 also fell by 16.02 per cent to 296.49 million euro from 353.04 million euro in the same month of 2023.