From January 2022 to June 2022 Bangladesh’s garment exports to the EU rose by 44 per cent. In comparison China secured a 21 per cent rise.

Bangladesh is poised to overtake China in garment exports to Europe. Work orders are also coming in big volumes from the US because of trade tensions with China.

In recent months, cotton imports by China have also declined significantly, which also indicates that apparel work orders are shifting to other countries like Bangladesh.

Bangladesh can perform strongly as it already has the capacity to cater to international retailers and brands. Local manufacturers last year expanded their capacities by over ten per cent just to cater to the influx of the work orders. However, inflation stemming from the Russia-Ukraine war may adversely affect consumers, which may have a slight ripple effect on Bangladesh’s garment shipments to Europe. From January 2022 to June 2022, European imports of apparel were up 25 per cent from the corresponding period of last year.

Exporters in Bangladesh are hopeful that a recent drastic fall of cotton prices in international markets will give a significant boost to the generation of new work orders and enable them to turn more competitive in international markets.