Merchandise export in December declined by 6.11 percent: EPB

Merchandise export in December declined by 6.11 percent, year on year, to $3.30 billion because of drop in garment products export -- an impact of Covid-19 fallout, according to data from the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB).

The December earning from goods shipment is also 6.13 percent below the monthly export target at $3.50 billion, the data said.

In July-December, the first six months of the current fiscal year, earning from apparels which typically contributes 84 percent of the country's national export in a year declined by 2.99 percent to $15.54 billion, according to the data.

Of the amount earned from the apparel shipments, $8.52 billion came from knitwear export and $7.01 billion from woven product export.

In July-December, knitwear export increased by 3.90 percent year on year while woven product shipment declined by 10.22 percent. Exporters said knitwear shipment increased compared to the woven ones because of people staying home more due to the pandemic.

The overall export earning in July to December also declined by 0.36 percent year on year to $19.23 billion, the data showed.