Bangladesh's Top Exports & Imports
Textile Shipments Generate Large Trade Surplus with America
Cotton apparel and household products account for over two-thirds of this South Asian country's sales to its leading export customers led by the United States.
Once known as East Pakistan, Bangladesh is a poor, overpopulated country burdened with ineffective bureaucracies. Almost two-thirds of Bangladeshis are employed in the agriculture sector. To feed its large population, rice is the country’s single-most-important product for domestic consumption. Bangladesh depends on imported food supplies, with limited opportunities to export its rice.
In 2006, Bangladesh exported some US$11.2 billion worth of goods led by garments, jute and jute goods, leather, frozen fish and seafood. Topping the list of customers for Bangladeshian exports were the United States (25% of total exports), Germany (12.6%), the United Kingdom (9.8%) and France (4.9%).
That same year, Bangladesh imported about $14.8 billion in commodities ranging from machinery and equipment, chemicals, iron and steel, foodstuffs and petroleum products to cement. Leading suppliers of Bangladeshian imports included the China (17.7% of total imports), India (12.5%), Kuwait (7.9%), Singapore (5.5%) and Hong Kong (4.1%).
Bangladesh’s international trade deficit was $3.6 billion in 2006. A closer look at Bangladesh’s trade statistics with the United States reveal that Bangladesh has shown a significant trade surplus with one of its major trading partners.
Bangladeshian Exports to U.S.
With a population of 151 million, Bangladesh exported US$3.3 billion worth of merchandise to the United States in 2006, up 21.4% from 2005 and up 53.2% in 4 years.
- Cotton apparel and household goods …US$2.2 billion (67.5% of Bangladesh to U.S. exports, down 29.2% from 2005)
- Other textile apparel and household goods … $641.8 million (19.6%, up 5.6%)
- Fish and shellfish … $192.6 million (5.9%, up 38.4%)
- Sporting and camping apparel, footwear and gear … $139.1 million (4.3%, up 8.3%)
- Wool apparel and household goods … $17.3 million (0.5%, down 27.4%)
- Cloth, fabric and threads (wool and silk) … $11.3 million (0.3%, down 1.6%)
- Abrasives, belting, boxes, glass … $11.1 million (0.3%, up 26.5%)
- Toys, sporting goods including guns and bicycles … $8.6 million (0.3%, up 27.2%)
- Fertilizers, pesticides and insecticides … $7.3 million (0.2%, down 78.9%)
- Goods returned then re-exported to America … $5.6 million (0.2%, up 623%).
Fastest-Growing Bangladeshian Exports to U.S.
Below are American imports from Bangladesh in 2006 with the highest percentage sales increases from 2005.
- Non-textile floor and wall tiles … US$58,000 (up 2,880% from 2005)
- Jewellery including watches and rings … $53,000 (up 1,225%)
- Goods returned then re-exported to America … $5.6 million (up 623%)
- Paper products … $114,000 (up 339%)
- Fruits and preparations including frozen juices … $43,000 (up 291%).
Bangladeshian Imports from U.S.
Bangladeshian imports from the U.S. rose 4% to $333 million in 2006, up 23.6% since 2002. Of American exports to Bangladesh in 2006, the following product categories had the highest values.
- Raw cotton … US$39.7 million (11.9% of Bangladesh from U.S. imports, down 6% from 2005)
- Generators and accessories … $37.8 million (11.4%, up 49.3%)
- Textile sewing machines … $23.4 million (7%, up 46.5%)
- Steelmaking materials … $19.2 million (5.8%, up 162.7%)
- Pulp and woodpulp … $14.6 million (4.4%, up 51.3%)
- Drilling and oilfield equipment … $14.3 million (4.3%, up 287.1%)
- Wheat … $11.4 million (3.4%, up 182.5%)
- Other industrial machines … $9.8 million (3%, up 39.3%)
- Industrial engines … $9 million (2.7%, up 49.7%)
- Telecommunications equipment … $8.8 million (2.6%, down 66.3%).
Fastest-Growing Bangladeshian Imports from U.S.
Below are American exports to Bangladesh in 2006 with the highest percentage sales increases from 2005.
- Other agricultural manufactured products … US$134,000 (up 857% from 2005)
- Corn … $359,000 (up 716%)
- Unmanufactured agricultural farming … $1.8 million (up 589%)
- Marine engine parts … $80,000 (up 567%)
- Tanks, artillery, missiles, rockets, guns and ammunition … $58,000 (up 480%).
In terms of the merchandise flow between the two countries, Bangladesh’s trade surplus with America was $2.9 billion in 2006, up 57.5% from 2002. The Bangladeshian trade surplus with the U.S. increased 23.8% in 2006 – an improvement from the 17.9% surplus increase in 2005 from the year earlier.
Sources for this Article
This article presents independent calculations and insights based on data drawn from the CIA World Factbook and the U.S. Census Bureau – Foreign Trade Statistics.
