Bangladesh Garment & Textile Industry, Explained (2024)

Bangladesh's garment industry is one of the great manufacturing stories of the last forty years — from almost nothing in the early 1980s to the world's second-largest apparel exporter today, behind only China. If you're a brand deciding where to make your clothes, it helps to understand the industry you'd be buying into. Here's the honest overview, with figures sourced and caveated.

How big is it?

Ready-made garments (RMG) are the engine of Bangladesh's economy. The sector earned roughly US$38–50 billion in exports in 2024 (the exact figure depends on whether you measure the fiscal or calendar year), making up around 81% of the country's total export income. Knitwear is the single largest category — knit exports (around US$20 billion) slightly exceed woven — which is why Bangladesh is especially strong for tees, hoodies, sweats and other knit garments.

Who makes it?

The industry employs roughly 4.4 million workers, the majority of them women, across a base of several thousand export factories (see our breakdown of how many garment factories Bangladesh has). Two associations organise it: BGMEA (woven and knit) and BKMEA (knitwear specifically). Much of the supply chain is vertically integrated — spinning, knitting, dyeing and sewing often within the same region — which is a big part of why lead times and costs stay competitive.

Why it became the world's #2

• Deep knit specialisation — decades of accumulated skill in jersey, fleece and terry production.
• Vertically integrated fabric supply — local yarn and knit-fabric mills shorten lead times.
• Scale and capacity — from small runs to hundreds of thousands of units.
• Competitive costs — without the quality trade-off good factories are known for.
• Established export logistics — including DDP shipping to major markets.

The turning point: 2013 and safety reform

The industry's modern shape was forged by tragedy. The 2013 Rana Plaza collapse, which killed more than 1,100 workers, triggered one of the largest factory-safety programmes in industrial history — international accords inspected and remediated thousands of factories against fire, electrical and structural standards, and forced non-compliant units to close or fix up. The industry today is materially safer than a decade ago, though — as everywhere — conditions still vary between individual factories, which is why buyers audit suppliers one by one. More on that in what "Made in Bangladesh" really means.

The country's scale is the headline; the individual factory is what you actually hire. Judge the supplier, not the flag.

Where it's heading

Three currents matter for brands sourcing now: a strong push toward sustainability and certification (Bangladesh has one of the world's highest concentrations of green-certified factories); evolving trade and tariff dynamics, including advantages for US brands using US-origin cotton (see our tariff guide); and growing demand from smaller brands for lower minimums than the industry traditionally offered.

What it means if you're sourcing here

The scale is reassuring, but it's not a guarantee — it means options range from world-class to poor, so your job is to vet the specific factory. Collective Studio is a family-run knitwear manufacturer inside this industry, in Narayanganj: GOTS-certified (RSC 9687), BKMEA and Narayanganj Chamber member, making from a genuine 100 pieces per style. If you're weighing up Bangladesh, read how to choose the right factory or talk to us directly.