Being one of the largest consumer markets in the world with US $ 88 billion worth of apparel retail market in 2022 as per Statista, India poses a great market for south-east Asia. Among those nations, Bangladesh remained the preferred sourcing destination for India last year with over 40 per cent of the imported apparels coming from the neighbouring country.

Since Indian apparel buyers are staying away from the Chinese vendors due to the instability China is causing across supply chain, Bangladesh is leaving no stone unturned to create business opportunities for itself and the data endorses this fact. As per Ministry of Commerce and Industry, India imported US $ 1.16 billion worth of apparels during 2021, noting 30 per cent Y-o-Y growth and almost equalled the pre-pandemic import figures that valued US $ 1.17 billion in 2019.   

When data was further analysed by Team Apparel Resources, it was found that India’s import from Bangladesh valued US $ 474.71 million – highest among all importing destinations – noting a massive increase of 58.54 per cent in 2021 over 2020 and 19.10 per cent over 2019.

What’s truly in favour of Bangladesh is the fact that, despite India remaining almost on similar import values of 2019 in 2021, the imports from Bangladesh have surged. The neighbouring country has become the preferred sourcing destination for Indian buyers, beating China that could ship just US $ 279.18 million worth of garments to India in 2021, declining by 7.48 per cent on yearly basis. (See Table 1)

Table 2Table 1
Compiled by – Apparel Resources
Source – Ministry of Commerce & Industry, India

Top 5 apparel products imported by Indian buyers from Bangladesh in 2021…

The data clearly tells that the growth of Indian imports from Bangladesh has come majorly due to rising demand of knitwear products, while woven products, except some, are collectively still reigning the tally. (See Table 2)

As per data, men’s woven trousers remained the first choice of the Indian buyers in their buying patterns from Bangladesh with import values of US $ 154.60 million in 2021, noting 56.38 per cent Y-o-Y growth. The men’s trouser market in India is estimated at nearly US $ 5 billion, as per Technopak.

The second top product category imported from Bangladesh by India is knitted T-Shirt, the import of which valued US $ 63.37 million (up 114.89 per cent on Y-o-Y) in 2021.

Third product that was imported by India the most from Bangladesh in 2021 was men’s shirt (woven). The shipment valued US $ 50.79 million, up 26.22 per cent from 2020. The growth is timely as men’s shirts constitute around 6-7 per cent of India’s total apparel domestic retail market valuing nearly US $ 5.50 billion, of which 94 per cent (US $ 5.17 billion) is shared by men’s shirts.

‘Made in Bangladesh’ Sweater is another product that is gradually making its space in the Indian apparel retail arena with exports reaching US $ 37.35 million in 2021, up 41.37 per cent Y-o-Y growth.

Womenswear market in India is on the rise, gradually but steadily, with a total apparel retail market cap of 45 per cent in 2022. Women’s suits/dresses are the products that Bangladeshi apparel makers are constantly eyeing. In 2021, India’s import of these products from Bangladesh valued US $ 35.08 million, noting 30.12 per cent Y-o-Y growth.

Special mention – The foundation garment industry that includes products such as shapewear, sports bra and other types of lingerie etc., in India has been driven by increasing demand during the past few years owing to increasing health consciousness, the inclination towards sports and fitness, and rise in awareness about skin problems among women. It is believed that shapewear market in India is around US $ 450 million opportunity today which will grow at a CAGR of 9-10 per cent in next 10 years. Tapping early opportunities in this segment, Bangladesh’s garment makers shipped US $ 20.71 million worth of foundation garments in India during 2021, noting a whopping growth of 191.28 per cent on Y-o-Y basis.

Compiled by – Apparel Resources
Source – Ministry of Commerce & Industry, India