In recent years, Bangladesh's textile and apparel industry has developed rapidly, and its global competitiveness has gradually strengthened. It has become China's main competitor in Europe, US, and Japan, and has occupied some of China's international market share. Dragged down by the global economic downturn in 2019, the trade situation was generally poor. So what is the status of Bangladesh’s apparel exports? 

Annual export growth rate drops evidently 
The latest data shows that Bangladesh’s apparel exports in Jan-Dec were 33.07billion USD, up by 0.4% year-on-year, of which knitted apparel exports were 16.44 billion USD, up by 1.2% year-on-year, and woven apparel exports reached 16.63 billion USD, down by 0.3 %. 
 

Export value of Bangladesh's apparel has increased year-on-year in recent years, with an average annual growth rate of 6% in the past five years and good development momentum. Due to the Sino-US trade friction in 2018, Bangladesh achieved a growth of 12.72%. However, the cumulative growth rate in Jan-Dec 2019 was 0.44%, which was a significant drop from that in 2018. 

The fourth month in a row that exports have dropped 
There's not much difference in export value of Bangladesh's knitted garments and woven garments, each hovering around 50%. From the perspective of monthly changes, the trend of knitted woven garments is the same, with growth in Jan-May, with the largest increase in May, a year-on-year contraction in Jun and recovery in July, and growth of more than 9% again. However, the export value in Aug-Nov continued to decline year-on-year, and slightly recovered in Dec. However, due to the global economic downturn, Bangladesh's apparel export in 2019 was not very optimistic, and the growth rate slowed down significantly compared to the previous period. 


Export US market share slightly increases 
 

Main export markets of Bangladesh's apparel are the United States, Germany, the United Kingdom and Spain, which account for more than 50%, accounting for 53.76% in 2019. The United States is the largest export market and accounts for 18.2%. In 2018, Germany and the US market share was not much different. A detailed analysis of the export market reveals that the main export region of Bangladesh's apparel is EU, which accounts for nearly 50% of the total export, and the second largest region is US, which accounts for around 18%. Other regions have relatively small proportions. 

Export value of Bangladesh's apparel is still growing, but in 2019, it has contracted by more than 10% year-on-year for four consecutive months, indicating that Bangladesh's export picture remains grim. The main reason is that due to the impact of the global economic downturn, Bangladesh’s apparel export markets, EU and US, saw a decline in demand for apparel imports.