After a slow April, exports make strong rebound in May with $4.74b in earnings — highest in 11 months

Infographics: TBS

After a slight slowdown in April, Bangladesh's goods exports have made a remarkable comeback in May, with earnings reaching a hefty $4.74 billion - the highest in 11 months.

This surpassed the previous peak of $4.63 billion in December, according to the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) data released on Tuesday (3 June). Compared to April, exports in May jumped by 57%, and were up 11.45% year-on-year.

This comes just after Bangladesh recorded the lowest export earnings in the past 10 months in April, with a total value of $3.01 billion amid long factory closures during the eight-day Eid-ul-Fitr holidays, a sustained gas supply crisis, and shipment delays by US buyers following an abrupt and steep tariff hike by the Trump administration.

Exporters say the unusually high figure in May was partly due to a shift in shipment schedules. Some shipments planned for June were dispatched earlier, ahead of the Eid-ul-Adha holidays, while some delayed April consignments were also shipped in May, due to Eid-ul-Fitr holidays.

As a result, export figures may see a slight decline in June, they added.

Despite uncertainty over potential tariff decisions under a future Trump administration, given that the United States is Bangladesh's largest export market, exporters say the flow of inquiries from buyers for the upcoming months remains encouraging, resulting in the likely continuation of the overall export growth.

"The spike in May's exports is partly because of earlier shipment of June orders and some spillover from April," said MA Rahim Feroz, vice chairman of DBL Group, a leading RMG exporter. 

"Our export forecast remains good for the coming months, provided there are no major disruptions such as a US tariff hike or domestic political instability," he said.

EPB data shows that Bangladesh's total exports from July to May of FY25 reached $44.95 billion, 10% higher than the same period last year.

Garment exports, which account for the bulk of Bangladesh's export earnings, rose by 11.85% in May. Leather and leather goods rose by 35%, jute and jute products by 17%, home textiles by 9.71%, and engineering products by 12%. However, agricultural exports declined by 8% during the month.