Bangladesh’s garment exports to EU fall 13.65% in January-July 2026
The decline was significantly sharper than the EU’s overall garment import contraction. Eurostat data showed the bloc imported garments worth €51.61 billion (~$59.32 billion) from China, Bangladesh, Turkiye, India, Pakistan, Vietnam and other suppliers in the first seven months, down 5.10 per cent year-on-year. In contrast, China’s shipments to the EU rose 1.89 per cent and Vietnam’s increased 3.92 per cent, indicating market-share pressure on Bangladeshi exporters despite softer EU demand.
Bangladesh’s exports to the EU had stood at €12.01 billion (~$13.80 billion) in the same period last year. China remained the largest garment supplier to the bloc with exports worth €16.42 billion (~$18.87 billion), while Vietnam shipped €2.55 billion (~$2.93 billion) during January-July 2026.
Among suppliers recording declines, Eurostat data cited by local media reports showed Turkiye down 13.32 per cent, India down 12.24 per cent, Pakistan down 11.81 per cent and Cambodia down 6.69 per cent. Turkiye exported garments worth €4.38 billion (~$5.03 billion) to the EU during the period, while India exported €2.74 billion (~$3.15 billion). Only China and Vietnam recorded growth among the top 10 garment exporters to the EU.
After China and Bangladesh, Turkiye, India, Vietnam, Cambodia, Pakistan, Morocco, Sri Lanka and Indonesia were listed as the leading garment suppliers to the EU. Cambodia’s garment exports to the European market fell 6.69 per cent, Morocco’s declined 6.72 per cent, Sri Lanka’s dropped 11.83 per cent and Indonesia’s fell 12.12 per cent in January-July.
Volume and unit-value trends also weakened Bangladesh’s position. China shipped 816.26 million kg of garments to the EU in the first seven months, up 4.16 per cent year-on-year, while Bangladesh shipped 751.91 million kg, down 5.66 per cent. China’s average export price stood at €20.20 per kg (~$23.22 per kg), down 2.18 per cent, while Bangladesh’s average price was €13.80 per kg (~$15.86 per kg), down 8.47 per cent. Average prices increased for Turkiye, Vietnam, Indonesia and Cambodia, while India’s average export price fell 1.76 per cent.
The fall is material for Bangladesh’s apparel-dependent export base. The report said garments account for more than 80 per cent of Bangladesh’s total export earnings, with around 60 per cent of garment export earnings coming from European markets and about 20 per cent from the US, Bangladesh’s largest single-country market.
Bangladesh also faced pressure in the US market. According to the US Department of Commerce’s Office of Textiles and Apparel, Bangladesh’s garment exports to the US fell 6.5 per cent year-on-year to $4.66 billion in January-July 2026, though the country remained the second-largest supplier to that market.
Fibre2Fashion News Desk (CG)
