Bangladesh Export Income Rises despite Bad Global Economy

Bangladesh's export grew by 7.81 percent in February year-on-year, which shows the country’s ability in export trading in spite of the global recession, said Export Promotion Bureau (EPB).

The country earned $4.63 billion from exports in February this year, which is 7.81 percent higher than in February last year.

The EPB released this updated data on commodity exports on Thursday. As per the EPB data, in the first eight months (July-February) of the current financial year 2022-23, goods worth $37.08 billion were exported. This export is 9.56 percent more than the same period of last financial year.

Exports of more than $5 billion for three consecutive months decreased in February. However, Bangladesh has maintained growth in product exports.

According to EPB data, exports of ready-made garments, leather and leather products, non-leather footwear and plastic products increased in the first eight months of the current fiscal year.

In contrast, exports of jute and jute products, agro-processed products, home textiles, and frozen foods have declined.

Following the Russia-Ukraine war, inflation in the country is on the rise. Consumers' purchasing power decreases. Purchase orders continue to decline. In the middle of the year, the gas-electricity crisis became evident in the country. Load shedding causes disruption of production for a large portion of the day.

Despite this crisis, the beginning of the current fiscal year was excellent in terms of the export of goods. In the first two months, $8.59 billion worth of goods were exported. The growth was also 25 percent. However, exports fell by 6.25 percent in September. It further decreased by 7.85 percent in October.

Exports got to a positive trend in November. Exports of goods in November, December, and January were $5.09 billion, $5.37 billion, and $5.14 billion respectively. Among them, the goods exported in December are the highest exports in a single month in the country's history.

According to EPB data, from July-February of the current fiscal year, readymade garments worth $31.36 billion were exported. This export is 14.06 percent higher than in the same period last year.

Apart from this, in the first eight months of the fiscal year, leather and leather products worth $830 million were exported. This export is 6.04 percent higher than in the same period last year.