Bangladesh’s earnings from underwear shipments have grown 31 per cent year on year. Export earnings from underwear accounted for six per cent of the garments exported last fiscal year.

Over the last decade Bangladesh has been enjoying the benefits of a shift in work orders from China and some other countries in many product categories. This has come about as the cost of production in China has gone through the roof while there prevails a dearth of skilled workers in the apparel sector. Workers in China are preferring working with sophisticated technologies in the garment sector.

The underwear sector in Bangladesh is directly benefitting from the shift of work orders from China and Sri Lanka and growing silently over the last few years.Currently underwear is the fifth most exported category from Bangladesh. It is a glowing example of diversification of garment products in recent years.Only a few factories used to produce underwear for some select international retailers and brands as this was not a regular export product for the country.Now more than 500 factories are regularly producing underwear as demand for the domestically made items is growing in the west for their competitive prices.Usually, prices of underwear, such as lingerie, are higher than prices for other attire as specialised fabrics are required for their manufacture.