Despite the severe global recession in the apparel sector, Bangladesh managed to increase its share in global garment trade from 6.4 percent in 2021 to 7.9 percent in 2022 according to the data released by the World Trade Organization.
The World Trade Statistical Review 2023 reveals that Bangladesh gained a higher share of global garment trade in 2022. This shows that despite facing difficulties in operating garment factories the Bangladeshis are gradually filling the void created in the apparel trade due to sanctions on China. It also retained its second position among apparel-exporting nations.
China despite sanctions is still the largest exporter of garments in the global market commanding a lion’s share of 31.7 percent in the garments trade. It is worth noting that Vietnam a few years back challenged Bangladesh’s ranking in apparel exports, now the third-largest apparel exporter in 2022, grabbing 6.1 percent market share, the WTO statistics revealed.
In value terms, Bangladesh exported garment items worth $45 billion in 2022, according to the data. Vietnam’s apparel exports in 2022 stood at $35 billion. China exported apparel worth $182 billion during the year under review. Chinese apparel exports were more than two times higher than the combined exports of Bangladesh and Vietnam. This shows that there is a long way to go to dislodge China from the number one position.
Bangladesh increases its share in the global garment trade
