Bangladesh’s apparel exports continued to gaintrend in the month of December 2017, back from the slump it experienced in the middle of last year. In December, apparel exports contributed to over 83 per cent of the total combined exports from Bangladesh, as per latest statistics released by Export Promotion Bureau on January 4, 2018.

In October 2017, exports amounted to $2.29 billion. In total, the garment industry fetched $2.81 billion in the month of December, up from $2.52 billion in November 2017, a 11 per cent increase. So far, December’s apparel exports took the total to $14.77 billion for this fiscal year. In the July-December, December fetched 7.75 per cent more than what it did in the similar perioid in FY 2016-17.

In December, however, woven garments came on top at $1.46 billion, 51 per cent, of the total apparel export share. Meanwhile, knitwear fetched $1.35 billion. In November 2017, both knitwear and woven amounted to roughly around $1.25 billion. In September 2017, Bangladesh’s exports slumped significantly on the stretch of holidays and slowdown in exports of the apparel division. Then, the apparel export amounted to $1.62 billion –the combined output of the knitwear and woven segments.

The overall export performance of Bangladesh stood at $3.35 billion nearly 1.85 per cent lower to the target of $3.41 billion. On a year-on-year basis, exports in December 2016 was $3.09 billion, marking an8.4 per cent change in December 2017.