The Rise of Bangladesh’s Apparel and Textile Industry

Bangladesh has become home of the world’s second-largest garment industry. They are coming behind China for exporting all kinds of garments. Readymade garment is a new trend in the whole world. It contributes 20% to Bangladesh’s gross domestic product.

In the past seven years, Bangladesh has gain attention in RGM by earning revenue starting from $19 billion and growing it to more than $30 billion. It’s an outstanding achievement by an increase of 79% in less than 10 years. They have survived through a dire crisis where they lost their workers. But this tragedy helped them by gaining a better environment that is more secure and healthy for workers. These changes made them attractive in the RGM market.

Bangladesh’s textile and apparel industry has grown by leaps and bounds over the past decade, making it the world’s second-largest exporter of garments. The RMG sector, coupled with other clothing exports accounts for up to 81% of the country’s export earnings, and the rapidly growing apparel industry contributes up to 20% to Bangladesh’s GDP, more than any other secondary industry sector. Clothing manufacturers in Bangladesh are leading the economic growth in the country.

Let’s take a look at the rise of this industry in Bangladesh and why it’s gaining attention from clothing merchants from around the world.

Growth of Textile Industry

With agriculture as the country’s primary employment, Bangladesh started to grow as a more significant garment exporter country when the focus shifted to the export industry. In 2012, Bangladesh’s textile industry made up to 79% of the country’s export income and by the end of 2021; Bangladesh plans to achieve a target of apparel exports worth $50 billion.

The rise in Bangladesh’s textile industry started taking place with the increasing wages in other countries. The countries such as Korea then noticed the low manufacturing prices along with the low wages the government paid to its garment workers and started venturing into the textile industry of Bangladesh. The country is now the leading destination for outsourcing to overseas clothing manufacturers.

Currently, Bangladesh has more than 5,000 factories working in the textile sector that employ almost 4 million people every year. Most of the workforce of the textile industry is made up of women.

What makes Bangladesh’s garment industry grow?

Bangladesh had set foot in the export industry during the 1980s, and the industry kept growing ever since. As mentioned earlier, the country’s apparel and textile export had increased a lot by 2012, Bangladesh came to light after the incident at Rana Plaza.

Rana Plaza, an eight-story garment shop in Dhaka, collapsed on April 23, 2013. The accident caused 1,100 people to die and brought Bangladesh’s silently growing industry into the light.

While it caused the country to focus on safety measures, it introduced the country as the cheapest manufacturer of garments. The minimum wage a garment worker earns in the Bangladeshi industry is even less than that of a Chinese worker.

The details urged custom clothing manufacturers to invest more in Bangladesh’s market and earn the most profit. The practice helped Bangladesh grow as an exporter as well. More than 58% of clothes manufactured in Bangladesh are sent to European markets, and according to a report, only 2% of the rate of an item goes back to the worker who made it. This clearly shows that the lack of standard wages, a large number of workers, and the cheap cost of energy in Bangladesh are the reasons manufacturers are getting more and more attracted to the production here.

Bangladesh’s material and apparel ventures have effectively defeated difficulties and are currently thriving notwithstanding the continuous worldwide downturn and firm rivalry with various nations with reliable in reverse linkage enterprises. Giant trading nations like China and India have recorded log jams or decreases in cost lately. Different economies like those of Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines and Cambodia are to encountering a reduction in their costs of materials and pieces of clothing because of the financial emergency in North

America and Europe. Interestingly, the costs of material items from Bangladesh remain shockingly very light. As of late, Bangladeshi prices of attire and content items in the U.S. market outperformed those of India.

Readymade garments produced in Bangladesh are separated mostly into two general classes: also woven, weave items. Shirts, Jacket and Trousers are the primary woven items and underpants, socks, stockings, T-shirts, Polo Shirts, Sweaters and other easygoing and delicate pieces of clothing are the essential sewing items. When a woven piece of clothing items overwhelmed the piece of clothing trade income of the nation, be that as it may, the offer of sew article of clothing items has been expanding since the mid-1990s. Weave items presently represent more than 52 per cent of the nations all out RMG send out income.

Conclusion

With a population higher than 164.6 million people and abundant energy resources, Bangladesh is certainly a great attraction for garment manufacturers all around the globe. Its large workforce that has a more significant number of women helps meet the target at cheaper rates and less time.

Although the incidents like Rana Plaza had raised questions on the country’s credibility regarding the safety of the labourers for some time, the manufacturers are now getting licenses for the green buildings and other security measures have been taken too.

Keeping the country’s dedication and manufacturer friendly policies, it’s no surprise that manufacturers all around the globe are shifting their attention towards Bangladesh.

References:

https://www.ifc.org/WPS/wcm/connect/news_ext_content/ifc_external_corporate_site/news+and+events/news/insights/bangladesh-garment-industry#:~:text=In%20the%20last%20seven%20years,of%20Bangladesh’s%20total%20export%20earnings.

https://medium.com/@stitchdiary/what-makes-bangladesh-a-hub-of-garment-manufacturing-ce83aa37edfc

https://www.fibre2fashion.com/industry-article/6944/current-scenario-of-the-textile-industry-in-bangladesh

The post The Rise of Bangladesh’s Apparel and Textile Industry appeared first on Evertise.

Usman Sabir