Bangladesh displaced China from the top apparel exporter position in the UK market four times between January and November last year—in January, March, April and May, according to UK government data.

Despite remaining the second-largest apparel exporter in the UK market in terms of value, Bangladesh’s position was unchanged as the top RMG exporter there in terms of volume since 2022, followed by China.

Although the overall apparel imports by the United Kingdom fell in the January-November period last year due to inflation, the share of Bangladesh’s exports rose there due to competitive prices.

Bangladesh’s apparel export to the United Kingdom in between January and November last year fell by 11.58 per cent to £2.63 billion compared with that of £2.98 billion in the same period of 2022, according to a UK government factsheet on Bangladesh released recently.

The United Kingdom’s apparel import from China in the same 11 month also dropped by 22.93 per cent to £2.83 billion compared with £3.68 billion in the same period of 2022. Its overall apparel import declined by 18 per cent year on year (YoY) in value and 13.67 per cent YoY in volume.

In terms of volume, Bangladesh’s clothing exports to the United Kingdom, the third largest export destination for the former, also dropped by 10 per cent YoY in those 11 months.

China’s apparel exports by volume to the United Kingdom in those 11 months dropped by 14.28 per cent YoY.

In that period, UK apparel imports from Turkiye, Pakistan and Cambodia declined by 27.5 per cent, 12.65 per cent and 16.48 per cent YoY respectively.

India’s and Vietnam’s apparel exports to the United Kingdom in those 11 months decreased by 12.53 per cent and 16.48 per cent YoY respectively.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)