Bangladesh has lost its position as the primary beneficiary of China’s declining share in the global apparel trade, with Cambodia and Vietnam emerging as the top gainers over the past four years, a new study by Research and Policy Integration for Development (RAPID) has found.
The report also cautioned that Bangladesh’s readymade garment exports to the European Union could shrink by more than 43% once the country graduates from Least Developed Country (LDC) status, should its shipments become subject to the EU’s Most Favoured Nation (MFN) tariff regime.
Presenting the study’s keynote paper, RAPID Chairman Dr MA Razzaque said China’s global apparel market share declined from 26.33% in 2022 to 23.56% in 2025.
Bangladesh, however, was unable to convert this shift into meaningful gains, with its own market share slipping marginally from 11.67 % over the same period.
By contrast, Cambodia’s share climbed from 3.34% to 4.26%, while Vietnam’s rose from 8.57% to nearly 9% during the same three-year window.
“Bangladesh is no longer the automatic beneficiary of orders shifting away from China, signalling a weakening position in the global apparel market,” Dr Razzaque said.
The study noted a marked contrast with the 2015–2022 period, when Bangladesh was the principal beneficiary of China’s retreat from the global apparel trade.
During those seven years, China’s market share fell by nearly 10%, while Bangladesh gained 3.75% outpacing Vietnam’s 2.46% gain and Cambodia’s 0.90% increase.
That momentum has since stalled. Between 2022 and 2025, as China ceded a further 2.77% of market share, Cambodia absorbed 0.90% of it and Vietnam gained 0.40%. Bangladesh’s share, meanwhile, remained largely flat.
The study further warned that Bangladesh faces a steep decline in export earnings after LDC graduation if it fails to secure a preferential trade arrangement with the European Union.
Overall exports to the bloc could fall by more than 36% and apparel exports specifically by over 43%, should Bangladesh become subject to MFN tariffs while rival exporters continue to benefit from duty-free access under existing free trade agreements.
The EU currently accounts for roughly half of Bangladesh’s approximately $48 billion in annual exports.
Under the Everything But Arms (EBA) initiative, Bangladeshi goods presently enter the EU duty-free — a privilege set to lapse once the country completes its LDC graduation and the accompanying transition period, unless a successor trade arrangement is put in place.
Competitors are already moving ahead. Vietnam and India have both concluded free trade agreements with the EU, granting their apparel exporters zero or preferential tariff access to the bloc.
Absent a comparable arrangement, Bangladesh’s apparel shipments could face MFN tariffs of up to 12%, a development the study said would substantially undermine the country’s price competitiveness in its single largest export market.
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