Despite growing trade and investment opportunities across Asian markets, Bangladesh’s export earnings are failing to keep pace.
On the contrary, rising import expenditure has pushed the trade deficit in goods to its highest level in three years.
In FY26, the country's merchandise imports grew by 10.5%, while export earnings saw a slight decline.
As a result, the gap between imports and exports widened to nearly $27.29 billion—an increase of almost 34% compared to the previous fiscal year.
According to Bangladesh Bank data, merchandise imports reached $71.14 billion in FY26.
During the same period, export earnings stood at $43.856 billion.
As import costs surged without a corresponding rise in export earnings, the trade deficit further expanded.
The lion's share of Bangladesh's trade deficit is with China and India.
In FY25, Bangladesh imported goods worth $18.56 billion from China while exporting only $694.4 million, leaving a trade deficit of nearly $17.86 billion.
During the same period, imports from India stood at $9.62 billion against exports of $1.76 billion, resulting in a deficit of around $7.86 billion.
Additionally, Bangladesh runs a trade deficit of approximately $3.58 billion with Indonesia, $2.80 billion with Singapore, and $2.01 billion with Malaysia.
Trade deficits also persist with South Korea, Thailand, Vietnam, Taiwan, and Japan.
Bangladesh imports industrial raw materials, machinery, fabrics, yarn, cotton, food grains, and electronic goods from China and India.
Many of these items are crucial for the country's domestic production and export-oriented industries.
Therefore, rather than simply curbing imports, the priority must be boosting exports, building domestic manufacturing capabilities, and leveraging imported technology to enhance overall competitiveness.
In FY26, readymade garments accounted for 80.62% of the country’s total export earnings.
Exports of leather, jute, agricultural products, pharmaceuticals, and engineering goods remained relatively low.
Over-reliance on a narrow range of products and markets poses a significant risk to export expansion.
According to business leaders, there is ample opportunity to expand exports to Asian markets amid global uncertainties.
However, product diversification shortages, supply chain delays, high tariffs, and trade agreement limitations continue to hinder these prospects.
In response to these challenges, the government has initiated efforts to craft individual strategies for 18 key export destinations, including China, India, Japan, and South Korea.
Country-specific action plans are being developed by analyzing market demand, trade barriers, and potential product lines.
Integrating into Asian regional production and supply chains alongside diversifying export goods has now become imperative for Bangladesh.
