Provisional data from the Joint Apparel Association Forum (JAAF) shows, Sri Lanka’s apparel exports grew by 22.64 per cent to $522.14 million in July this year. Cumulative exports between January and July increased by 20.4 per cent to $ 3.3 billion from the corresponding period of last year and $ 3.07 billion in pre-COVID 2019.

In July, Sri Lanka’s apparel exports to the US grew by 17 per cent Y-o-Y to $ 213.6 million. Exports to the EU grew by 32.3 per cent to $154.29 million and to the UK by 29.3 per cent to $ 75 million.

In the first seven months of 2022, exports to the US grew by 27 per cent to $ 1.4 billion, to the EU by 14.5 per cent to $ 963 million and to the UK by 18 per cent to $ 455.4 million. Exports to other markets grew by 16.6 per cent to $ 484.50 million.

Despite resilient performance so far in 2022, industry sources fear prospects for the remainder of the year will remain challenging. This is due to rising inflation in the EU and the US and existing inventory in the latter. Energy crisis ahead of the upcoming winter is also a factor that points to depressed market sentiments.