Sri Lanka’s garment exports grew by 18 per cent during January 2022 to September 2022. During the same period, textile exports from the island nation increased by six per cent year-on-year. Textiles, garment, and other made-up textile articles’ exports together accounted for 57 per cent of all industrial exports from Sri Lanka during the period under review.

On the other hand, imports of textiles and textile articles rose by nine per cent while clothing and accessories imports were up by eight per cent during January 2022 to September 2022.

During the month of September 2022, garment and textile exports from the South Asian nation grew by five per cent year-on-year. Category-wise, garment exports increased by five per cent while textile exports rose by eight per cent. But exports of other made-up textile articles were down by three per cent.

Sri Lanka is attempting to finalise free trade agreements with countries like China, India, Japan and Australia. These are expected to help boost exports and strengthen the industry’s resilience.August 2022 saw a 20 per cent increase in export turnover generated by the apparel sector but at present Sri Lanka is not competing on a level playing field. Its main competitor countries like Bangladesh, Vietnam and some African nations have duty concessions in global markets, which it does not have.