China, Bangladesh Battle for UK Import Supremacy

Alexandra Harrell
·2 min read
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China and Bangladesh are two of the top garment exporting countries in the world, ranking No. 1 and No. 3, respectively, per Statistica. For the past few months, the two heavyweights have been battling it out to be the top exporter of readymade garments (RMG) to the United Kingdom.

Bangladesh came out on top, beating out China and earning the top apparel exporter position in the UK market four times between January and November last year, per data compiled by the trade statistics of the UK government. In the January-November period of 2023, Bangladesh’s apparel export earnings surpassed China in January, March, April and May.

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According to the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), Bangladesh exported just over 178 million kilograms (392 million pounds) of garments to the UK during the January-October period last year, while China shipped roughly 159 million kilograms (350 million pounds) in the same time period.

Even though Bangladesh remained the second largest apparel exporter in the UK market in terms of value, the country’s position remained “unchanged” as the top RMG exporter on the UK market in terms of volume since 2022, followed by China.

And despite overall apparel imports by the UK falling in the January-November 2023 period due to inflation stemming from the Russia-Ukraine war, the share of Bangladesh’s exports increased due to the competitive prices of goods.

Per a UK government fact sheet, Bangladesh’s apparel exports to the UK in January-November of last year fell by 11.5 percent to 2.63 billion pounds ($3.34 billion), compared against $3.78 billion in the same period a year earlier.

On the other hand, the UK’s apparel imports from China in the same 11 months dropped by almost 23 percent to roughly $3.6 billion compared against $4.67 billion in the same period of 2022.

According to Bangladeshi publication New Age, BGMEA associate president Faruque Hassan said that it was “expected” that Bangladesh’s apparel exports would increase in 2023, but was thwarted by “global economic woes.” Hassan further said that the retail sales in the UK in 2023 presented a “bleak picture” until holiday sales in late December.

It’s worth noting that according to the official data, the total imports by the UK in January-November 2023 dropped from roughly $16.5 billion in the same period of 2022 to about $13.5 billion.