October export falls by 7.85%

Bangladesh again experienced negative growth in export in October to $4.35 billion, fetching a fall in growth of 7.85% year-on-year (YoY).

During the same period last year, Bangladesh bagged $4.72 billion from export earnings, according to data by the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) on Wednesday.

The country’s export earnings witnessed low growth in September after a positive streak of 13 months since August last year.

October’s earnings also followed last month’s negative route.

However, the apparel sector, the highest earner of the export receipts, earned $3.67 billion in October, fetching a narrow positive YoY growth of 3.27%, which was $3.56 billion in the October of the last fiscal year, EPB data said.

Meanwhile, during the first four months of FY22-23 (July-October), overall exports registered a thin positive growth of 7.01% to $16.85 billion from $15.74 billion in the same period of the last fiscal year.

During the mentioned period, apparel export reached $13.95 billion, fetching a YoY growth of 10.55 %, from $12.62 billion in the same period of the last fiscal year.

Within apparels, the knitwear export reached $7.72 billion, while export from woven items was $6.22 billion with 7.14% and 15.08% growth respectively compared to the same period of the FY 2021-22, EPB data showed.

Among other notable sectors, during the same period, home textile, a new player in the export basket, marked a growth of 5.18% to $434.16 million from $412.78 million in the mentioned period of the last fiscal year.

Agricultural products registered a negative growth of 23.19% to $353.62 million, from $464.11 million in the last fiscal year.

Leather and leather goods registered a growth of 17.42% to $428.46 million, which was $364.9 million in the same period of the last FY.

Jute and jute products registered a negative growth of 1.96% to $332.98 million, which was $326.47 million in the same period of the last FY.

Engineering products marked a negative growth of 47.66% to $177.81 million from $339.73 million in the mentioned period of the last fiscal year.

Exporters said that though there was a predication that RMG export may slowdown in October, such a positive growth is welcoming.