As per data released by the International Trade Centre (ITC), global garment buyers are paying Bangladeshi garment exporters a lower price, than the global average.
‘The Garment Costing Guide for small firms in value chains’ report was published by ITC in the current month.
In the case of men’s cotton woven trousers, Vietnam got $10.76 per piece while Sri Lanka received $8 and India $8.41, but Bangladesh received $7.01, down 9.2 percent below the global average of $7.72.
Again for men’s cotton jeans, Vietnam got $11.55 per piece, while Bangladesh exporters received just $7.81, as against the global average of $8.41.
Similar anomalies were found in several other items in the garment export basket, where Bangladeshi garment exporters were denied prices equivalent to even average global prices.
The data from the report validates concerns of Bangladeshi apparel exporters that they are paid lower prices as against prices paid to other competing countries.
ITC said that the problem is not that buyers are paying Bangladesh factories less, but buyers are paying more elsewhere.
It may be noted here that Bangladesh is the second biggest apparel exporter in the world after China and shipped $42.61 billion worth of clothing in the fiscal ending June 30, 2023.
ITC, which is Switzerland-based, is a multilateral agency and has been set up under a joint mandate of the World Trade Organisation and United Nations.
Bangladesh garments priced lower than global average – ITC
