Bangladesh was the sixth largest importer of textiles across the world in 2016. During the year Bangladesh imported textiles worth $7.15 billion mostly from China and India. In the previous year, that is, 2015, textile imports reached $10 billion.

The decline in textile imports by Bangladesh is mainly due to a slowdown in demand from the industry. The import value of textiles was $6.8 billion in 2014 and $6.2 billion in 2013. The European Union was the largest importer of textiles last year followed by the United States and China. Vietnam and Japan ranked as fourth and fifth respectively.

China is the largest exporter of textiles followed by the EU and India. Bangladesh has set a target of earning $50 billion from readymade garment exports by 2021. The readymade garment sector is a vital industrial sector of Bangladesh which is immensely contributing to the country’s export earnings, employment generation and value addition. Contributing approximately 80 per cent of the country’s total export earnings, Bangladesh is the second largest apparel exporter in the world, next to China.

Efforts are being made to ensure a safe, sound, green, environment-friendly and a vibrant garment sector. Out of 10 eco-friendly factories of the world, seven are located in Bangladesh.