That dollar amount reflects a 41% upturn compared to $45 billion in 2018.
Year over year, the total value of Bangladeshi exported goods accelerated by 17.3% from $54.1 billion during 2021.
By value, Bangladesh’s biggest exports are highly concentrated. Clothing or accessories whether or not knitted or crocheted, generated over 85% of total exports from the densely populated Asian nation.
Based on the average exchange rate for 2022, the Bangladeshi taka depreciated by -9.9% against the US dollar since 2018 and diluted by -7.8% from 2021 to 2022. The weaker local currency in Bangladesh makes its exports paid for in stronger US dollars relatively less expensive for international buyers.
Given Bangladesh’s population of 168.5 million people, its total $63.4 billion in 2022 exports translates to roughly $375 for every resident in the South Asian country. That dollar metric exceeds the average $320 per capita one year earlier in 2021.
Bangladesh’s Top 10 Exports
The following export product groups represent the highest dollar value in Bangladeshi global shipments during 2022. Also shown is the percentage share each export category represents in terms of overall exports from Bangladesh.
- Knit or crochet clothing, accessories: US$31 billion (48.9% of total exports)
- Clothing, accessories (not knit or crochet): $24.4 billion (38.5%)
- Footwear: $1.7 billion (2.7%)
- Miscellaneous textiles, worn clothing: $1.5 billion (2.4%)
- Headgear: $735.4 million (1.2%)
- Paper yarn, woven fabric: $592 million (0.9%)
- Leather/animal gut articles: $454.9 million (0.7%)
- Fish: $446.8 million (0.7%)
- Feathers, artificial flowers, hair: $256.4 million (0.4%)
- Vehicles: $190.4 million (0.3%)
Bangladesh’s top 10 exports accounted for 96.8% of the overall value of its global shipments.
Headgear was the fastest grower among the top 10 export categories, up by 55.1% from 2021 to 2022.
In second place for improving export sales was footwear via a 33.5% advance.
Bangladesh’s shipments of unknitted or non-crocheted clothing and accessories recorded the third-fastest gain in value, up by 24.1%.
The leading decliner among Bangladesh’s top 10 export categories was paper yarn and woven fabric, thanks to a -34.6% year-over-year reduction.
The listed product categories are at the two-digit Harmonized Tariff System (HTS) code level.
Drilling down to the four-digit HTS codes, Bangladesh’s most valuable exported products were knitted or crocheted t-shirts and vests (14.4%), unknitted and non-crocheted men’s suits including trousers (13.7%), knitted or crocheted jerseys or pullovers (12.8%), unknitted and non-crocheted women’s clothing (10.6%), knitted or crocheted women’s clothing (6.6%), unknitted and non-crocheted men’s shirts (4%), knitted or crocheted women’s underwear and pajamas (2.7%), knitted or crocheted men’s shirts (2.2%), unknitted and non-crocheted men’s coats and jackets (2.2%), and knitted or crocheted men’s suits including trousers (also 2.2%).
Products Generating Bangladesh’s Greatest Trade Surpluses
The following types of Bangladeshi product shipments represent positive net exports or a trade balance surplus. Investopedia defines net exports as the value of a country’s total exports minus the value of its total imports.
In a nutshell, net exports represent the amount by which foreign spending on a home country’s goods or services exceeds or lags the home country’s spending on foreign goods or services.
- Knit or crochet clothing, accessories: US$30.9 billion (Up by 21.2% since 2021)
- Clothing, accessories (not knit or crochet): $24.3 billion (Up by 24.5%)
- Miscellaneous textiles, worn clothing: $1.4 billion (Up by 1.2%)
- Footwear: $1.3 billion (Up by 40.8%)
- Headgear: $706.1 million (Up by 58.6%)
- Leather/animal gut articles: $374.8 million (Up by 24.9%)
- Fish: $339.5 million (Down by -13%)
- Feathers, artificial flowers, hair: $207.2 million (Up by 32.6%)
- Paper yarn, woven fabric: $188.9 million (Down by -67.8%)
- Tobacco, manufactured substitutes: $172.9 million (Up by 35.3%)
Bangladesh has highly positive net exports in the international trade of apparel, both clothing and accessories. In turn, these cashflows indicate Bangladesh’s strong competitive advantages under apparel-related product categories.
Products Causing Bangladesh’s Worst Trade Deficits
Overall Bangladesh incurred an estimated -$2.2 billion trade deficit during 2022, shrinking by -90.5% from -$23.4 billion for 2021.
Below are exports from Bangladesh that result in negative net exports or product trade balance deficits. These negative net exports reveal product categories where foreign spending on home country Bangladesh’s goods trail Bangladeshi importer spending on foreign products.
- Mineral fuels including oil: -US$11.5 billion (Up by 39.7% since 2021)
- Machinery including computers: -$6.1 billion (Down by -10.1%)
- Cotton: -$4.9 billion (Down by -45.7%)
- Electrical machinery, equipment: -$4.2 billion (Down by -12%)
- Iron, steel: -$3.9 billion (Up by 3%)
- Animal/vegetable fats, oils, waxes: -$2.7 billion (Up by 29.5%)
- Plastics, plastic articles: -$2.3 billion (Down by -32.2%)
- Fertilizers: -$2.2 billion (Up by 15.5%)
- Knit or crochet fabric: -$2.13 billion (Down by -8.3%)
- Manmade staple fibers: -$2.09 billion (Down by -0.9%)
Bangladesh has highly negative net exports and therefore deep international trade deficits for petroleum oils (particularly refined oil), coal and petroleum gases under the mineral fuels-related product category.
Bangladeshi Export Companies
Not one Bangladeshi corporation ranks among Forbes Global 2000.
Wikipedia does list a number of exporters located in Bangladesh. Selected examples are shown below.
- Advanced Chemical Industries (pharmaceuticals, consumer brands, agribusiness)
- ASM Chemical Industries (industrial chemicals)
- Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (oil products)
- Beximco Pharma (pharmaceuticals)
- Dragon Group (clothing, notably sweaters)
- Kazi Farms Group (poultry)
- KDS Group (garments, textiles, steel)
- Petrobangla (oil, natural gas, minerals)
- Pragoti (automobiles)
- Walton (motorcycles)
In macroeconomic terms, Bangladesh’s total exported goods represent 4.7% of its overall Gross Domestic Product for 2022 ($1.34 trillion valued in Purchasing Power Parity US dollars). That 4.7% for exports to overall GDP in PPP for 2022 compares to 5.3% for 2021. Those percentages suggest a relatively decreasing reliance on products sold on international markets for Bangladesh’s total economic performance, albeit based on a short timeframe.
Another critical economic indicator is a country’s unemployment rate. In 2022, the average unemployment rate for Bangladesh was 4.7%. That percentage represents a decline from an average 5.1% jobless rate one year earlier in 2021, according to Trading Economics.
Bangladesh’s capital city is Dhaka, formerly called Dacca and the country’s largest city in terms of population and geographic area.
See also Bangladesh’s Top 10 Imports, Top Exported Hats by Country, Top Exported Baby Clothing Sales, and Cotton Imports by Country
Research Sources:
Central Intelligence Agency, The World Factbook report on South Asia: Bangladesh. Accessed on June 6, 2023
Forbes Global 2000 rankings, The World’s Biggest Public Companies. Accessed on June 6, 2023
Foreign Trade, United States Census Bureau. Accessed on June 6, 2023
International Monetary Fund, Exchange Rates selected indicators (Domestic Currency per U.S. dollar, period average). Accessed on June 6, 2023
International Monetary Fund, World Economic Outlook Database (GDP based on Purchasing Power Parity). Accessed on June 6, 2023
International Trade Centre, Trade Map. Accessed on June 6, 2023
Investopedia, Net Exports Definition. Accessed on June 6, 2023
Wikipedia, Bangladesh. Accessed on June 6, 2023
Wikipedia, Category:Companies of Bangladesh. Accessed on June 6, 2023
Wikipedia, Gross domestic product. Accessed on June 6, 2023
Wikipedia, List of Companies of Bangladesh. Accessed on June 6, 2023
Wikipedia, Purchasing power parity. Accessed on June 6, 2023
