The most recent data released by the World Trade Organisation (WTO) shows that Bangladesh’s export value in 2023 will be around US $ 9 billion lower than the figures stated by the Export Promotion Bureau of the country.
The WTO’s interactive tool World Trade Statistics 2023 – Key Insights and Trends released new data on 1st August. The data shows that Bangladesh exported US $ 38.4 billion worth of clothes in 2023, accounting for 7.4 per cent of the global market.
That being said, this amount is over US $ 9 billion less than the US $ 47.4 billion that the EPB disclosed.
The country was engulfed in a numerical maze earlier in May when the Bangladesh Bank discovered anomalies in the export data, exposing a US $ 10 billion deficit for the final nine months of FY ’24 based on updated estimates from the National Board of Revenue (NBR).
The EPB has suspended the export data release for three months, beginning in July, to remedy the disparities.
But Bangladesh continues to be the world’s second-largest garment exporter after China, despite encountering challenges in the international markets and contending with growing manufacturing costs as a result of rising energy and raw material prices.
The country’s market share increased to 7.4 per cent in 2023 from 2.5 per cent in 2005 and 4.2 per cent in 2010.
China, while still the largest clothing exporter, saw its share of global exports decline from 36.6 per cent in 2010 to 31.6 per cent in 2023, with exports totaling US $ 165 billion.
In 2023, Vietnam, the third-largest apparel-exporting country, exported US $ 31 billion worth of clothing, reflecting a market share increase to 6.0 per cent from its 2.9 per cent share in 2010.
As to the WTO data, Vietnam and Bangladesh exported garments valued at approximately US $ 7 billion and US $ 32 billion, respectively, in 2023 and 2018, respectively.
Vietnam later knocked Bangladesh back to third place in the global apparel export market in 2020, but Bangladesh regained its top spot in 2021.
Türkiye became the fourth largest clothing exporting country grabbing a 3.6 per cent global share and exported apparel worth about US $ 19 billion in 2023. It is followed by India, with a 3.0 per cent market share and exported garment items worth US $ 15 billion.
However, the WTO digital data platform also showed that Bangladesh fell to the 55th rank among the largest merchandise exporters in 2023, falling from 49th in 2022.
