Bangladesh’s share in global RMG market rises
Bangladesh maintained a firm footing in global RMG market in 2022 despite the challenge of the Russia-Ukraine war following the revival after the coronavirus pandemic.
The country also gained a 1.5 per cent rise in the global market share in addition to retaining the second place in apparel exports. Bangladesh even advanced better than it competitor Vietnam.
Bangladesh exported garment items worth 45 billion US dollars in 2022, grabbing 7.9 per cent of the global market share, which was 6.4 per cent in the previous year.
Vietnam, one of the major competitors of Bangladesh, exported clothing items worth 35 billion US dollars last year, sharing 6.1 per cent of the global market, which was 5.8 per cent in 2021.
The apparel export gap between Bangladesh and Vietnam also increased to 10 billion US dollars in 2022 from 3 billion US dollars in 2021.
The World Trade Statistical Review 2023 released by the World Trade Organisation disclosed this data on 31 July.
When asked, the vice president of the RMG factory owners’ body Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) Md Shahidullah Azim told Prothom Alo, “Our share in the global RMG market has long been stuck in 6 per cent. Finally, our share rose amid many challenges, and this is very good news for the RMG sector of Bangladesh.”
According to the World Trade Statistical Review 2023, China retains the top place in apparel export, followed by the European Union (EU) countries, which altogether exported apparels of 156 billion US dollar. However, Bangladesh is the second single-biggest garment exporter, followed by Vietnam.
In 2022, top ten garment exporters including China, EU, Bangladesh and Vietnam exported appeals worth 492 billon US dollars while top ten garment importers including EU, USA, Japan, UK, China, Canada, South Korea and Russia imported garments worth 442 billon US dollars.
According to the WTO data, China’s export of garment items grew by 6 billion US dollars to 182 billion US dollars in 2022 from 176 billion US dollars in 2021, but its share in global RMG market fell by 1.1 per cent to 31.7 per cent. China, however, saw a relatively low growth despite export by top ten countries grew by 32 billion US dollars in 2022.
Turkey, the third-biggest exporter, shared 3.5 per cent of global RMG market and exported apparels of 20 billion US dollars while India, the fourth-largest exporter, shared 3.1 per cent of the global RMG market and exported garment items of 18 billon US dollars, according to the WTO.
Vietnam, however, replaced Bangladesh as the second-largest exporter of apparels during the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, but Bangladesh retained its footing in the next year.
Bangladesh’s export of apparels grew by 10.27 per cent to 46.99 billion US dollars in the 2022-23 fiscal. Export of RMG products was 3.95 billion US dollars in the first month, July, of the 2023-24 fiscal – a 17 per cent rise comparing to the same period of the previous fiscal.
When asked, the former president of the knitwear factory owners’ body Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA) Fazlul Hoque told Prtohom Alo, “The rise in the share of the global market shows the strength of our RMG industry. Though China is the largest exporter of apparel, its share in the global market has shrunk because of global politics, and Vietnam felt a direct impact of it. Since Bangladesh has been receiving work orders that those countries lost, our share in the global market grew. If our export falls because of global crisis, export of other countries will drop too. And if global export rise, ours will also undoubtedly increase.”