Bangladesh has lost its position as the second-largest garment supplier to the United States, falling to third place after China overtook it during the first eight months of the year.
Vietnam has retained its position as the leading supplier of garments to the US market, while China has moved into second place. Bangladesh, which previously held the second position, has slipped to third as its exports to the American market declined.
The latest figures from the Office of Textiles and Apparel (OTEXA), under the US Department of Commerce, show that Bangladesh exported garments worth $5.3934 billion to the United States between January and August this year. The figure represents a 4.43 per cent decline compared with the same period in 2025.
China exported garments worth $5.6307 billion to the US during the same eight-month period. Although Chinese garment exports also fell sharply, by 39.39 per cent year on year, the country still recorded a higher export value than Bangladesh.
The latest figures represent a notable change from the position after the first seven months of the year. Between January and July, Bangladesh exported $4.6589 billion worth of garments to the US, down 6.50 per cent from the corresponding period of 2025.
China’s exports during the same seven-month period stood at $4.5557 billion, despite a 34.21 per cent year-on-year decline. At that stage, Bangladesh was still ahead of China. The gap was reversed after August, when Chinese shipments pushed the country into second place.
Bangladesh’s garment exports to the US have fluctuated considerably in recent years. In 2022, exports rose by 36 per cent to $9.73 billion. The following year, however, shipments fell by around 25 per cent to $7.29 billion.
There was only a modest recovery in 2024, when exports increased by 0.75 per cent to $7.34 billion. Growth picked up in 2025, with exports rising by around 12 per cent to $8.20 billion.
The latest decline is significant because the United States is Bangladesh’s single largest market for garments. Roughly one-fifth of Bangladesh’s total garment export earnings comes from the US market. Any prolonged weakness there can therefore have a direct bearing on the performance of the country’s export-oriented apparel industry.
The slowdown is also taking place against a broader contraction in the US apparel market. OTEXA data show that US businesses imported garments worth $49.0755 billion from global suppliers during January-August this year. That was 7.42 per cent lower than the $53.0082 billion imported during the same period last year.
Vietnam remained the largest garment supplier to the United States during the eight-month period. US imports from Vietnam, however, also declined slightly. Shipments fell by 0.76 per cent, from $11.0592 billion in the first eight months of last year to $10.9756 billion this year.
The figures indicate that Bangladesh’s loss of the second position has occurred amid weaker overall US demand for imported garments. Even so, the shift highlights the growing competition among major apparel-exporting countries for a share of the American market.
For Bangladesh, the United States remains a particularly important destination for ready-made garments. The latest ranking therefore provides a fresh indication of the pressure facing the country’s apparel exports, following several years of fluctuations in shipments to the market.
