Though Bangladesh is still doing better in America than most exporters, its garment exports to the US, the single largest export destination of Bangladesh, declined by 17.88 percent year on year in the January-April period.
According to the Office of Textiles and Apparel (OTEXA) of the US Department of Commerce Bangladesh in the four months of 2023 exported goods worth $3.28 billion to the US. During 2022 garment exports to the US market were $9.72 billion. In the first quarter of this year, garment exports to the US declined by 19 percent in value and 30 percent in volume year on year.
Bangladesh was not the only country to suffer export decline to the United States. Other countries suffered more. The drop in the uptake of garments in the US market was due to high inflation that reached 9.1 percent in June 2022. The inflation eased to 4.9 percent in April this year.
Apparel exports to the US from China, the largest clothing items supplier worldwide, declined by 32.45 percent year on year in the January-April period. Vietnam’s exports to America dropped by 27.33 percent, India’s by 16.59 percent, and Indonesia’s by 25.57 percent.
Garment exporters in Bangladesh say that even though inflation is showing down in the US, Bangladesh’s export there may continue to decline for a few more months. They expect a rebound in exports from December onwards as inflation further eases.
Bangladesh exports to US declined in the first four months of 2023
