Export earnings stumble after four months, down 2.49%

  • Arif-Uz Zaman

Despite sustained strong growth in the last four months amid inflation and economic slowdowns around the world, it was no longer the case in March; compared to the same period of the previous year, the total export income decreased by 2.49 percent. However, the trend of growth in the third quarter of the fiscal year has been maintained despite the decline in single months, increasing by 8.07 percent.

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According to the data published by the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) on Sunday, goods worth $4.64 were exported from Bangladesh in March which was $4.76 billion in the same period of the last fiscal year.

In addition to negative growth compared to the same period of the previous year, the total income is 7.5 percent less than the annual target. Govt.’s annual strategic export target for March was $5.02 billion.

Most importantly, apparel exports – the country’s export earning backbone – in March were also down by 1.04 percent compared to the same period last year. According to the analysis of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), a total of $3.89 billion worth of apparel were exported in the recently concluded March.

A total of $1.81 billion worth of woven garments exported in March decreased by 3.61 percent from the same period last year. However, the knitwear sector maintained growth by exporting $2.08 billion up by 1.32 percent over the same period of the previous year.

Faruque Hassan, President, BGMEA said, “We have been forecasting for the last couple of months that due to the lower demand in our main apparel export destinations – our apparel export will see a downtrend.”

Faruque Hassan-BGMEA-Apparel export-March-2023



“However, due to our entrepreneurs’ strong resilience and BGMEA’s focus on value-added product manufacturing and market diversification – overall, our RMG exports value grew to keep up the growth momentum. But the situation has worsened as such that we are seeing a drop in export growth. And this downtrend will continue in April and also in May. Not only the RMG, rather we are seeing a decline in container vessels in our ports.”

“We are very worried as global trade is observing slow growth. High inflation is increasing mortgage rate – hampering growth.”

“To counter this perilous state – all the stakeholders in the apparel value chain need to stick together and most importantly we all need to help each other to overcome this situation.”

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Earlier, export earnings last turned negative in October of the current fiscal; goods worth $4.35 billion were exported in that month. It was 7.85 percent less than the same period of the previous year. After that, the export earnings turned around and continued to grow for four months.

However, in the previous month of October, after 13 consecutive months, the trend of export growth was interrupted. Export earnings in September came in at $3.9 billion, which is 6.25 percent lower than the same month last year.

Apparel exports in March were also down by 1.04 percent compared to the same period last year. According to the analysis of BGMEA, $3.89 billion worth of apparel was exported in the recently concluded March.

A total of $1.81 billion worth of woven garments exported in March decreased by 3.61 percent from the same period last year. However, the knitwear sector maintained growth by exporting $2.08 billion up by 1.32 percent over the same period of the previous year.

Despite a single-month decline, growth in the apparel sector has been sustained for nine months. Earnings from apparel exports in July-March rose 12.17% year-on-year to $35.25 billion, up from $31.42 billion in the reported period of FY2021-22.

Within the apparel sector, knitwear exports brought home $19.13 billion, up 11.78% compared to a year earlier, where woven shipment generated $16.11 billion, an increase of 12.63%, EPB data showed.

According to sector-wise data, leather and leather goods witnessed a positive growth of 2.56 percent, plastic products 34 percent and wood and wood products 94.75 percent in July to March. Meanwhile, there has been a negative growth of 25.73 percent in home textiles after consecutive growth over a certain period, 28.31 percent in agricultural exports, 36.59 percent in handicrafts, 21.23 percent in jute and jute products and 32.78 percent in carpets.