Staff Report :
Bangladesh’s merchandise exports experienced a $40 million drop year-on-year (YoY) in April 2024, primarily due to sluggish shipments of apparel products around the Eid-ul-Fitr holidays and a sustained downturn in other key sectors.
The country exported goods worth $3.92 billion in April, the lowest in six months and a 0.99% decrease from $3.96 billion recorded in the same month a year earlier, according to data released by the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) on Thursday.
April’s export earnings remained 16.78% lower than the $4.71 billion export target for this month set by the commerce ministry.
Bangladesh’s merchandise exports experienced a $40 million drop year-on-year (YoY) in April 2024, primarily due to sluggish shipments of apparel products around the Eid-ul-Fitr holidays and a sustained downturn in other key sectors.
Bangladesh exported goods worth $3.92 billion in April, the lowest in six months and a 0.99% decrease from the same month a year earlier, according to data released by the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) on Thursday.
April’s export earnings remained 16.78% lower than the $4.71 billion export target for this month set by the commerce ministry.
Industry insiders attribute the April decline to several factors, as factories received fewer orders in April due to Eid-ul-Fitr, the largest religious festival in the country. Extended holidays also reduced shipment volumes.
However, industry experts downplay concerns, highlighting that slow exports during Eid are a recurring trend. Last year, Bangladesh’s exports stood at $4.85 billion in May, following the 2023 Eid-ul-Fitr holidays.
The apparel sector, the backbone of the country’s exports, witnessed a moderate 4.97% year-on-year growth in the first ten months of the current fiscal year (FY24).
This translates to earnings of $40.49 billion compared to $38.58 billion in the same period of FY23. Within the apparel sector, knitwear performed better with 9.11% growth, generating $22.88 billion in exports. Conversely, the woven garment sector saw minimal growth of just 0.03%, earning $17.62 billion.
While exports of leather and leather goods experienced a significant decline of 13.32%, with exports reaching $872.45 million compared to $940.8 million in the same period of the previous fiscal year,.
Home textile exports faced a steep decline of 25.32%, dropping to $702.56 million from $940.8 million in the corresponding period of FY23.
However, exports of agricultural products witnessed a positive growth of 6.12%, reaching $774.49 million compared to $729.8 million in the same period of FY23.
Export receipts from jute and jute goods again experienced negative growth of 7.05% to $716.44 million, down from $770.82 million in July-April of FY23, EPB data stated. Another potential export sector, engineering products, again fetched a negative growth of 0.4% to $436.35 million, down from $438.11 million in the same period of last FY.
