Bangladesh export earnings fall 0.58% in FY2025-26, miss annual target by 13%

Strong June growth has not been enough to prevent a decline in annual export earnings

Bangladesh's export earnings have declined in the 2025-26 fiscal year despite a sharp rebound in June, with receipts falling 0.58 percent from the previous year to $48 billion.

The annual export figure also fell nearly 13 percent short of the government's target of $55 billion.

According to the latest data published by the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) on Thursday, export earnings stood at $48.28 billion in FY2024-25.

The overall decline could have been much steeper had exports not rebounded strongly in June.

Exporters earned $4.20 billion in June, up 25.91 percent from $3.334 billion in the same month a year earlier.

The EPB data showed that export earnings had declined for eight consecutive months before recovering in April.

Exports rose to $4.01 billion in April, nearly 33 percent higher than in the corresponding month of the previous year.

However, the momentum did not continue in May.

Export earnings in May stood at $4.40 billion, down 7.07 percent from May of the previous fiscal year.

Analysis of the EPB data indicates that the overall negative export growth in FY2025-26 was mainly driven by weaker performance in the ready-made garments sector, the country's largest export industry.

Ready-made garment exports earned $38.70 billion during the fiscal year, down 1.64 percent from a year earlier.

The sector had earned $39.35 billion in FY2024-25.