Bangladesh Sees 14% Drop in December Apparel Exports

Bangladesh, down in fashion exports. Transactions to international destinations for readymade garments made in the country recorded a 2.63% decline during the first half of FY2025-2026, covering July to December, with a 14.23% plunge in December alone, reaching $3.23 billion compared to $3.77 billion recorded in December 2024.

According to the latest data released by the Export Promotion Bureau (Epb), the public agency in charge of export promotion, comparable to Spain’s Icex, total apparel exports during the first six months of the 2025-2026 fiscal year stood at $19.360 million, a decrease of up to 2.36% compared to the $19.889 million reached in 2024.

December alone saw a significant drop in exports, which reached $3.23 billion, down 14.23% from December 2024, when they reached $3.77 billion.

Bangladesh will face increased unionization in the coming months to respond to social pressure in the country

Even so, Bangladesh has established itself as an international champion of fashion sourcing. This year, the country is facing a strategic and production model change based on two axes: greater unionization to respond to the latent social pressure in the country and a higher value-added product to cover all its enormous production capacity.

Bangladesh is the world’s second largest exporter of garments, behind only China, a position it maintains thanks to its industrial capacity and its structural role in global fashion supply chains.

The garment industry accounts for around 81.5% of the country’s export earnings, making it the main driver of growth, employment and foreign exchange inflows, according to official figures for fiscal year 2024-2025 provided by Epb.