Bangladeshi Apparel Exports To India Drop 23% In July-Feb
Bangladeshi exports of garments to India totalled US $580 million in the first eight months of fiscal ending June 2024, a massive decline of 22.99 percent as against $750 million in same period of earlier fiscal.
Overall exports from Bangladesh to India fell to $1.27 billion between July 2023 and February 2024, down 16.59 percent compared to $1.53 billion in the first eight months of previous fiscal.
The overall dip in exports to India has been attributed to fall in exports of apparels which account for almost 50 percent of the Bangladeshi export basket to India.
As per the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB), apart from clothing, Bangladesh exports jute and jute products, frozen fish, plastics and soybean oil to India, which collectively account for the rest 50 percent.
It may recalled that India granted Bangladesh duty-free status on a majority of exports in 2011. Due to this, Indian garment manufacturers serving the domestic market started sourcing from Bangladesh.
This shift happened was mainly due to the low garment manufacturing costs in Bangladesh and also to take advantage of the duty free import of garments.
The slowdown in the Indian apparel retail market may have prompted Indian brands to reduce their sourcing from India’s South Asian neighbour.
