Bangladeshi Tops In Global Apparel Exports By Volume To UK
In the first 10 months of 2023, Bangladesh has retained its position as the top exporter of apparels and accessories to the UK market in terms of volume.
Data from Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) said that Bangladesh shipped 178.39 million kg of apparels to the UK compared to 159.25 million kg exported by China.
Bangladesh was the ranked first in garment exports in volume terms to the UK even in 2022 and the trend has continued into 2023.
“Bangladesh’s share of UK’s total apparel imports is 23 percent in value terms and 28 percent in terms of volume,” media reports quoted BGMEA President Faruque Hassan as saying.
“Potential cost savings, timely product delivery, and maintaining quality has kept us ahead of the competition in UK so far and which has helped us secure our position,” he added.
According to the BGMEA data, the country offers the lowest price among various countries, when considering average UK apparel import prices, which is the reason it is not at top in terms of value.
Bangladesh’s average clothing export price is 21.39 percent lower than China, 26.75 percent lesser than India and a wide 32 per cent lower than Turkey.
“Bangladesh is absent in the mid-high price segment and it is necessary to penetrate this market to take the industry forward,” Hasan observed.
“Bangladesh can move in to the mid-high price segment by producing a t-shirt can fetch a higher price because of adding value like embroidery, printing and also functionality,” the BGMEA President stated.
