Apparel export to EU increases by 35.69% in 2022

The export of apparel items from Bangladesh to the European Union (EU) countries increased by 35.69 percent in 2022 compared to 2021.

The import of apparels by EU from the world grew by 20.97 percent during this time. The EU imported $22.89 billion worth of clothing from Bangladesh in 2022, as per the statistics of Eurostat.

With 22.20 percent share of the EU's total RMG import, Bangladesh remains the 2nd largest apparel import source for the EU, reports BSS.

Director of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) Mohiuddin Rubel said that on the whole, the export of Bangladeshi RMG items to the EU market was good last year.

But, the high export trend of apparel items to the EU market which was evident during the January-June period of last year could not be maintained during the July-December period.

"The main reason behind this was that the first six months were the post Covid-19 period for which the buyers purchased many RMG items. Furthermore, we did well since there was lockdown in China," he added.

He said that after that the impact of the Russia-Ukraine war was huge while the inflation also increased in the EU market leading to low demand for apparel items. "It also put an impact on our exports,"

Rubel also mentioned that the Bangladeshi exporters are facing tough time in maintaining their export growth in the EU market since the production cost went up.

Data showed that EU's imports from the top sourcing country China grew by 17.01 percent year-over-year. EU's import from China reached $30.14 billion in 2022.

On the other hand, EU's import from Turkey, the third largest apparel import source for the EU, increased by 10.09 percent year-over-year and reached $ 11.98 billion.

EU's imports from India and Vietnam increased by 21.02 percent and 35 percent respectively.