Bangladesh has regained the lost crown in the export of ready-made garments. Bangladesh returned to the second top spot after overtaking Vietnam in a gap of one year. In addition to losing its crown as the world’s second largest apparel exporter, Vietnam’s export share has also declined. On the contrary, the share of Bangladesh has increased.

This figure has emerged in the World Trade Organization (WTO) ‘World Statistical Review 2022’ report. The report was published by the WTO on Thursday. According to the report, China has always been the top exporter of clothing in the world. The European Union (EU) is in the second position. EU countries exported 15 billion dollars worth of clothing. However, Bangladesh is the second top garment exporter as a single country. And the third is Vietnam.

According to the report, the top 10 exporting countries including China, EU, Bangladesh, Vietnam sold 46 thousand crores or 460 billion dollars worth of ready-made garments last year. On the other hand, the top 10 importing countries including EU, USA, Japan, UK, China, Canada, Korea, Russia bought ready-made garments worth 41 thousand 4 billion dollars.

In 2020, Vietnam became the second largest exporter of ready-made garments, surpassing Bangladesh during the Corona period. The country has been in fierce competition with Bangladesh since a few years ago. However, in a gap of one year, Bangladesh has overtaken Vietnam in the export of ready-made garments in 2021.

According to WTO data, Bangladesh exported $3,400 million worth of ready-made garments last year. And Vietnam’s clothing exports were 3 billion dollars. In 2020, the country’s exports were 2 thousand 9 billion dollars. That year due to Corona, the export of Bangladesh decreased to 2 thousand 8 billion dollars.

Vietnam’s share of global apparel exports in 2000 was 0.9 percent. At that time, Bangladesh had 2.6 percent of the market. In the next decade, Vietnam’s market share increased by three times, but Bangladesh’s only increased by a little more than one and a half times. In 2020, Vietnam had a share of 6.4 percent in the global ready-made garment market. And Bangladesh has 6.3 percent. However, last year Vietnam’s share decreased to 5.8 percent. Bangladesh’s share has increased to 6.4 percent.

According to WTO data, China exported $17.6 billion worth of ready-made garments last year. Their export in 2020 was 14 thousand 200 million dollars. As a result, China’s share in global garment exports increased from 31.6 percent to 32.8 percent last year.

Turkey and India are the third and fourth largest exporters of ready-made garments in the world. Among them, Turkey exported $1,900 million worth of ready-made garments last year. The share of the country is 3 and a half percent. On the other hand, India exported $1,600 million worth of clothing. Their market share is 3 percent.

The report of WTO shows Bangladesh’s garment export of 3 thousand 4 billion dollars last year. However, according to Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) and Garment Manufacturers Association BGMEA, exports of ready-made garments were worth $3,581 million. In the first 10 months of this year, readymade garments worth 3,666 million dollars have been exported. Among them, exports decreased by 7.5 percent last September.