Written by The Banking Post
Bangladesh’s merchandise exports grew by nearly 25% year-on-year to US$4.77 billion in July, marking a strong start to the fiscal year 2025-26, driven overwhelmingly by the ready-made garment (RMG) sector.
According to data released Monday by the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB), RMG exports alone fetched US$3.96 billion—an increase of 24.67% from the same month last year.
Within RMG, knitwear exports rose 26.01% to US$2.17 billion, while woven garments grew 23.08% to US$1.78 billion.
BGMEA President Mahmud Hasan Khan attributed the surge partly to the production and shipment disruptions in July 2024 amid political unrest, as well as accelerated shipments ahead of the July 31 tariff deadline set by the Trump administration. A 35% flat tariff on all Bangladeshi exports was reduced to 20% on August 1, but exporters rushed to ship under the previous rates.
Beyond garments, several other sectors posted strong growth:
- Home textiles: Up 13.24% to US$68.08 million
- Leather and leather goods: Up 29.65% to US$127.38 million
- Jute and jute goods: Up 4.92% to US$55.44 million
- Agricultural products: Up 12.86% to US$90.50 million
- Frozen and live fish: Up 42.71% to US$41.20 million, led by shrimp (up 47.38%)
- Engineering products: Up 74.45% to US$58.23 million
- Plastics: Up 7.41% to US$21.16 million
Despite long-standing efforts toward export diversification, the RMG sector continues to dominate the country’s export earnings.
Bangladesh closed the last fiscal year with a total export income of US$48.28 billion, an 8.58% increase from the previous year.
