From Jan-April’24, Bangladesh’s RMG exports to the European Union fell by 9.85 per cent to €6.01 billion from €6.67 billion in the same period of 2023, according to Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union.

While managing to mitigate the negative growth in its apparel exports to the EU, Bangladesh still underperformed compared to its competitors. The country attributed the lag in its performance to a severe energy crisis, high utility costs, increased production costs, long lead times, and cumbersome customs procedures, similar to the challenges faced in the US market.

Bangladesh’s apparel exports to the EU were further impacted an overall decline in apparel imports by the EU due to the global economic slowdown, as per Eurostat data. From Jan-Apr’24, Bangladesh’s knitwear exports to the EU fell to €3.38 billion from €3.88 billion in the same period of 2023. Similarly, woven garment exports dropped to €2.64 billion Y-o-Y from €2.79 billion. 

Clothing imports by the EU from various countries declined by 6.28 per cent to €26.41 billion in January-April 2024 from €28.19 billion in the same period of 2023. The EU imported apparel worth €6.54 billion from China in January-April 2024, a slight decline of 1.81 per cent from €6.66 billion in 2023. Imports from Turkey decreased by 11.84 per cent to €3.03 billion from €3.44 billion. India’s exports to the EU fell by 10.74 per cent to €1.53 billion from €1.71 billion. Vietnam’s exports to the EU dropped by 6.25  per cent to €1.17 billion from €1.25 billion.

Additionally, Bangladesh experienced a significant decline of over 14 per cent in apparel exports to the US, the country’s largest export destination, earning $2.30 billion in the January-April period of 2024, according to the US Department of Commerce’s Office of Textiles and Apparel.