The US emerged as the single largest export destination for Bangladesh. Over 21.50 percent of its apparel export earnings came from this huge market. It is not the only country that registered high export growth in the first nine months of 2023.
After Bangladesh which registered over 51 percent of exports to the US, the countries that recorded high export growth include South Korea 53.39 percent, India 54.66 percent, Indonesia 46.58 percent, Cambodia 40.11 percent, and Pakistan 39.61 percent year-on-year. Pakistan registered the lowest growth among the top five apparel-exporting countries to the United States. Earlier last year, Bangladesh exported 7.15 billion dollars worth of ready-made garments to the US market.
Bangladesh fetched billions from the US market by exporting primarily trousers, T-shirts, sweaters, blouses, underwear, etc. With an 8.54 percent export share, the country remained the third largest apparel import source for the US.
Most of the increased apparel exports to the US came at the expense of China which is shifting its apparel manufacturing by itself. While the US is also shifting its sourcing from China in a big way.
At a time when the entire developed world is in recession, the US economy has been mainly shielded due to excessive dole out to US consumers by the Biden administration. This has resulted in robust growth of apparel exports to the US. This has come as welcome relief to the apparel-exporting countries. The regular surge in the US currency has increased the purchasing capacity of US consumers.
