December exports hit historic high at $4.9 billion

Bangladesh has broken the monthly exports record once again, shipping goods worth over $4.9 billion in December as the country’s economic recovery continued to gather pace after a pandemic-induced slump.

Exports grew 48.27 percent year on year last month, exceeding the target by 25.45 percent after a steady spell in the preceding months.

Exporters shipped $4.04 billion worth of goods in November after posting exports of $4.73 billion in October, the previous record, and $4.16 billion in September.

The shipments in December took the overall earnings in the first six months of the fiscal year near $24.7 billion, growing 28.41 per cent year on year and exceeding the target by 15.5 per cent, according to data published by the Export Promotion Bureau on Sunday.

The government set an export target of $43.5 billion for FY22.

Readymade garments contributed to about $20 billion, or more than 80 per cent, of the total exports in the July-December period, as the holiday season in the West continued smoothly for the most part, barring some disruptions towards the end due to fears of the spread of omicron, a highly infectious but less severe coronavirus variant.

Exports by the apparel sector grew over 28 per cent and exceeded the target by nearly 15.2 per cent.

The pandemic caused the export market to stumble in 2020. In April, May, and June of that year especially, exports slowed to a crawl.

Though there was a turning point in July, Bangladesh didn’t reach its export targets.

As pandemic restrictions eased in July, exports found a new dynamism.

In the first 11 months of 2020, export earnings were about $30 billion. Over the same period in 2021, exports topped $56 billion.