Bangladesh Drops to Third in US Apparel Market as Exports Fall 4.43%
Published : 16:14, 8 October 2026
Bangladesh has slipped to third place among the leading apparel exporters to the United States after China reclaimed the second position in August, despite a slowdown in the decline of Bangladesh’s garment exports.
According to updated data from the US Office of Textiles and Apparel (OTEXA), Bangladesh exported $5.39 billion worth of garments to the US market during January–August this year. The figure was 4.43 percent lower than the same period last year.
China, meanwhile, exported $5.63 billion worth of apparel to the United States during the same period. Although Chinese exports fell by 29.39 percent year-on-year, the country moved ahead of Bangladesh by around $240 million.
The United States imported about $49 billion worth of apparel during the first eight months of the year, down 7.42 percent from the same period last year. In volume terms, apparel imports declined by 8.98 percent, while the average import value per square meter increased by 1.71 percent.
Bangladesh exported around 1.76 billion square meters of apparel to the US market during January–August, down by nearly 3 percent from a year earlier. The average export value stood at $3.07 per square meter, marking a 1.73 percent decline year-on-year.
China recorded the sharpest decline among the major apparel suppliers to the US, with exports falling 29.39 percent. India’s exports declined by 26.44 percent, while Pakistan saw a 3.83 percent decrease. In contrast, apparel exports from Indonesia and Cambodia increased by 2.58 percent and 6.91 percent, respectively.
Vietnam remained the largest apparel supplier to the US. Its exports totaled $10.98 billion during the first eight months, down marginally by 0.76 percent from the previous year. The average value of Vietnamese apparel was $3.54 per square meter.
China continued to offer the lowest average apparel value among several major suppliers, with its figure falling 9.93 percent to $1.47 per square meter. Bangladesh’s average stood at $3.07, while Pakistan’s was $2.78 per square meter.
