Export earnings dropped by 6.05pc in November

Staff Reporter :
Bangladesh’s export earnings in November registered a negative growth for the second time in the current of FY24 as the demand for apparel products shrank in the United States and the European Union due to the economic slowdown.

Exports from Bangladesh declined 6.05 percent year-on-year to $4.78 billion in November which was $5.09 in November of 2022, according to data published on Monday by the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB).

Likewise, November’s export was also 8.94 percent lower than the targeted amount set at $5.25 billion.

Exporters said the slowdown is particularly caused by the disruption in production during labor unrest, as well as the slowdown in global retail sales and demand.

During the first five months of FY24 (July-November of FY24), overall exports registered an extremely narrow growth of 1.3 percent to $22.23 billion from $21.95 billion of the mentioned period of the last fiscal, the EPB data showed.

Besides, it also showed that Bangladesh’s export earnings in the first five months of FY24 fell 9.23 per cent short of the government-set target of $24.49 billion.

Meanwhile, of the total exports, apparel exports were $4.05 billion in November, 28 percent higher than October’s $3.16 billion.

In November last year, the apparel export earnings stood at $4.38 billion. EPB data during the period of July-November FY24 showed RMG export growth dropped by 2.75 percent year-over-year, to $18.83 billion from $18.33 billion during the same period of the previous financial year. Alarmingly in November, apparel exports declined by 7.45 percent.

Though exports of both woven and knitwear dropped, the decline was more severe for woven than knitwear, EPB data showed.

During the mentioned five months, the export of knitwear was $10.98 billion with 8.66 percent year-on-year growth, and the export of woven garments was $7.84 billion with 4.52 percent decline.

Among other notable sectors, home textile marked a negative growth of 42.27% to $299.42 million, down from $412.78 million in the mentioned period of last fiscal.

Export earnings from leather and leather goods in the five months of FY24 fell by 20.55 per cent to $427.02 million compared with those of $537.5 million in the same period of FY23.