Trade

Bangladeshi leather exports surpass strategic target set for the year

Jun 29, 2022 Bangladesh

From July 2021 to May 2022, overall leather exports totalled 1.11 billion US dollars, topping the strategic target set of 1.03 billion US dollars for the full financial year

In the first eleven months of the current fiscal year*, Bangladeshi leather exports increased by 31.85%, as compared to the same period of last year, reaching 1.11 billion US dollars. The export level was 18.1% above the strategic target of 944.78 million US dollars. The data from the Export Promotion Bureau of the Government of Bangladesh also shows that leather footwear exports represented roughly 60.3% of the total value exported.

Leather footwear exports rose by 31.59% in the referred period, generating 672.98 million US dollars, on a comparable basis to similar period of the previous fiscal year. The figure exceeded the strategic target set of 568.15 million US dollars by 18.45%.

In the ten months to May 2022, leather goods exports amounted to 302.66 million US dollars, which reflects an increase of 34.06%, as compared to the same period of the prior fiscal year. This segment also performed ahead of the strategic target set (257.04 million US dollars) by 17.75%. Finished leather exports totalled 139.93 million US dollars, up by 28.56% year-over-year, and over the established target set (of 119.59 million US dollars) by 17.01%.

Other footwear exports rose by 33.85% over the first eleven months of the year, reaching 408.18 million US dollars, on a comparable basis to the period of July 2020 – May 2021. The export level was 11.36% ahead of the strategic target set of 366.55 million US dollars.

Bangladeshi Footwear Industry

According to the World Footwear 2021 Yearbook (AVAILABLE HERE), in 2020, Bangladesh was the 8^th largest footwear producer (423 million pairs) and the 9^th largest consumer market (366 million pairs) worldwide. Most of its production supplies the domestic market: only 72 million pairs were exported in 2020 (making it the 16^th largest exporter of footwear). Exports, which had been growing consistently and sharply for years, declined in 2020 for the first time in a decade.

*Bangladesh's financial year runs from July to June

Image Credits: apparelviews.com

Bangladesh Exports Footwear International Trade Leather Leather goods Shoes