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Bangladesh is the second-largest volume exporter of produced clothing to the UK, yet its prices are significantly lower than those of any other country. Bangladesh has 27 percent lower apparel prices than even India, which comes in at number four. China and Turkey lead the world in terms of prices, except India.
In the UK market, the average cost of Bangladeshi clothes is 26.75 percent less than that of India, 21.39 percent less than that of China, and 32 percent less than that of Turkey, according to a statement released by BGMEA on Tuesday, January 9.
According to BGMEA, Bangladesh's low exports of mid-high value clothing to the UK market result in unfair prices for the country. Bangladeshi exporters are also afraid of losing business and are calling for reduced prices of clothes from buyers.
"When we calculate the average price of UK apparel imports, Bangladesh offers the lowest price compared to other competitors," stated Faruque Hassan, president of the BGMEA.
This circumstance demonstrates more than just our lack of competitiveness in the international market. At the same time, it is also very clear that we are not present in the market's mid-to-high price range. We currently need to plan to take the mid-high pricing sector in order to advance the industry," he continued.
Observing that December 2023 holiday sales are likewise not encouraging, "A bleak picture is seen when looking at clothing retail sales in the UK from December," Faruque Hassan stated. But, we are concerned about the rising pressure on price levels that has resulted from this disparity between import volume and pricing.
Pre-Covid UK garment imports from around the globe were $16.45 billion in 2019 compared to $16.83 billion in 2018, according to BGMEA. In 2022, apparel imports increased to $17.34 billion.
Although 2023 is predicted to see continued strong growth momentum, the UK's worldwide apparel imports between January and October of this year decreased by 12.20 percent in volume and 16.44 percent in value when compared to the same period previous year.
Bangladesh's market share, measured in terms of value, is 23% of all garment exports to the UK market, according to BGMEA.
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