Bangladesh Textile Industry Statistics

With 206 LEED-certified factories including 76 of the global top 100, a record share of Platinum sites, programs that have saved 29 billion liters of water and cut 578,000 tons of CO2 a year, and sweeping measures from mandatory rainwater harvesting to solar and recycling initiatives, Bangladesh has quietly transformed its garment sector into the world’s leading green manufacturing hub while still racing to scale circularity and meet its 2030 emissions goals.

Bangladesh's ready-made garment industry is the economy's heavyweight champion, accounting for roughly 84.58% of exports and earning US$46.99 billion in fiscal year 2022 to 2023 while contributing nearly 13% to GDP; knitwear leads with US$25.73 billion and about 75 to 80 percent value addition compared with woven's US$21.25 billion and roughly 35 to 40 percent value addition; exports remain concentrated in the European Union (US$23.52 billion) and the United States (US$8.51 billion) but are diversifying into non-traditional markets (US$8.37 billion) and posting striking gains to Turkey (up 53.60 percent), India (up 41.58 percent to US$1 billion), Australia (US$1.16 billion), Canada (US$1.5 billion), Japan (US$1.18 billion) and the UAE, and the sector maintained momentum with 10.27 percent export growth in fiscal year 2022 to 2023, US$28.36 billion in RMG earnings from July to January of FY24, and a 12.45 percent year over year rise in January 2024.

Proving that low-cost does not mean low-ambition, Bangladesh is second globally in apparel exports with a 7.9% share and roughly 24.6% of the denim market, exporting to 167 countries and topping denim shipments to both the EU and the USA, while moving upmarket with rising unit prices, targeting $100 billion by 2030 and a 10% global share by 2025, expanding into fast-growing markets like Japan, boosting virtual B2B sales and rebranding under Made in Bangladesh, even as it braces for a potential 6 to 12 percent duty hit after LDC graduation unless it secures GSP+.

Bangladesh’s textile sector is a formidable manufacturing powerhouse with a cotton habit and acute sensitivity to energy shocks: it imported roughly 7.8 million bales in 2023 and nearly 99% of its raw cotton while supporting about 510 spinning mills, over 900 weaving mills, 300 denim mills producing 600 million yards annually, yarn and fabric capacities of roughly 3.3 billion kilograms and 5 billion meters respectively, meeting 90% of knit demand locally and supplying around 40% of woven fabric to exporters, backed by more than $15 billion in PTS investment, $1 billion in non‑cotton investment and 35 specialized textile schools, full bonded warehouses for exporters, seven EPZ garment zones and Chattogram Port handling 92% of trade, yet still reliant on MMF and viscose imports and hit by a roughly 15% production cost increase from the 2023 gas price rise.

The Bangladesh textile industry is like a garment with a new label, showing stronger stitching and better safety while employing 4.4 million mostly young workers (60% women now) with a BDT 12,500 minimum wage, widespread digitization and major training and social gains, yet low union participation, high turnover, patchy childcare and a 40% upskilling gap threaten to unpick those advances.