Pakistan’s textile and clothing exports held steadier than Bangladesh’s RMG exports in July–March, but Bangladesh remains more than twice as large in garment export value.
Pakistan and Bangladesh both faced pressure in textile and apparel exports during July–March FY 2025/26, but the comparison reveals two different stories. Bangladesh’s ready-made garment exports fell 5.51% year on year to $28.58 billion, from $30.25 billion. Pakistan’s textile and clothing exports slipped only 0.50% to $13.55 billion, from $13.61 billion. On headline performance, Pakistan showed greater resilience. On scale, Bangladesh remained far ahead.
Bangladesh: larger base, sharper fall
Bangladesh’s export decline was broad-based after a strong July. Total RMG exports rose 24.67% in July, but every subsequent month from August to March showed contraction. The steepest fall came in March, when exports dropped 19.35% year on year.
Within Bangladesh’s RMG basket, knitwear fell faster than woven garments. Knit exports declined 6.42% to $15.11 billion, while woven exports fell 4.48% to $13.47 billion. Despite this contraction, Bangladesh’s garment-only exports remained $28.58 billion—more than double Pakistan’s wider textile and clothing export figure.
Pakistan: stable total, mixed categories
Pakistan’s textile and clothing exports were broadly flat, down only 0.50% to $13.55 billion. The strongest major category was readymade garments, up 3.77% to $3.21 billion. Bed wear was also marginally positive, rising 0.25% to $2.38 billion.
Knitwear, Pakistan’s largest export category, declined 1.14% to $3.74 billion. Cotton cloth fell sharply by 10.94% to $1.27 billion, signalling continued weakness in intermediate textile exports. Towels also slipped 2.10% to $0.80 billion. Cotton yarn rose 4.42% to $0.56 billion, while other textile materials grew 5.47% to $0.59 billion.
The strategic gap
The key message is not that Pakistan is outperforming Bangladesh. It is that Pakistan is more stable on a much smaller base, while Bangladesh is correcting from a much larger garment platform. Bangladesh’s weakness creates space, but not automatic opportunity.
For Pakistan, the commercial question is whether it can convert relative stability into market-share gains in higher-value garments, home textiles, and made-ups. The next signals to watch are monthly garment growth, buyer diversification, cotton cloth recovery, and whether exporters can move beyond price competition into speed, compliance, design, and reliability.
