Trade Scenario Between Bangladesh and United Kingdom

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Trade Scenario Between Bangladesh and United Kingdom

Trade Scenario Between Bangladesh and United Kingdom

The United Kingdom's (UK) export market is crucial for developing and small island developing states (SIDS) including Bangladesh. And among them, some of the countries' export is significantly dependent on the UK market. According to ITC Trade Map, during 2012-2016, their average export share to this market was: Belize (24 per cent), Mauritius (15 per cent), Sri Lanka (10 per cent), St Lucia (10 per cent), Bangladesh (9 per cent), and Fiji (8 per cent). All these countries are still enjoying Duty-Free, Quota-Free (DFQF) market access to the UK in terms of exporting their goods under the European Union (EU)'s Everything But Arms (EBA) scheme.

So, considering the Brexit, it was a matter of grave concern for the least developed countries (LDCs) including Bangladesh as to what would happen to their existing DFQF facilities to the UK market, when the latter will finally leave the EU. But in the June of 2017, it came as good news for these countries when the government of UK made a pledge to allow market access to the UK market for the world's poorest countries--around 48 in number, across the globe. Indeed this decision will have a positive impact on the overall economies of Bangladesh as well as 47 other LDCs, particularly for their exports.

The United Kingdom is the third largest importer of Bangladeshi exports. During the July-June period of the 2020-2021 fiscal year, the United Kingdom exported goods worth USD 3,751.27 million, which is 9.8% of Bangladesh's total exports. The main products exported from Bangladesh are Oven (72) (USD, 1,331.02 million), Knitwear (61) (USD 2,113.55 million), Home Textiles (63) (USD 95.60 million). Dollars), crustaceans (0308) (USD 54.39 million) and bi-cycles (612) (USD 45.03 million). Note that the export income of the same period last year was 8.61% higher than 3453.6 million US dollars.

Export and Import Statistics Between Bangladesh and U.K ( Value in milliom US$)

Fiscal Year	Export	Import	Balance
2018-2019	4169.31	482.70	(+) 3686.61
2019-2020	3453.88	411.10	(+) 3042.78
2020-2021	3751.27	359.90	(+) 3391.37
2021-2022	4828.08	630.80	(+) 4197.28
2022-2023	5310.09	415.30	(+) 4894.79
2023-2024	4477.97	346.1	(+)4131.87
2024-2025	4,622.70	154.2	(+) 4468.5

The export potential of Bangladesh’s current export commodities to the UK (top ten items)

Hs Code	Export Potential (Million USD)	Actual Exports from Bangladesh (Million USD)	Untapped Potential (Million USD)	Applied tariff by the UK (%)	UK's Import from World (Million USD)	Bangladesh's Export to the World (Million USD)
610910	735.4	467.5	267.9	0.0	1800.0	5600.0
620342	472.2	282.7	189.5	0.0	967.1	5500.0
620462	421.3	304.2	117.0	0.0	995.3	3400.0
611030	367.9	225.3	142.7	0.0	1300.0	2300.0
611020	348.0	185.7	162.3	0.0	1200.0	2700.0
620520	248.7	141.9	106.8	0.0	566.6	1800.0
610462	185.5	150.5	35.0	0.0	430.4	1200.0
611120	163.6	66.2	97.4	0.0	486.5	858.5
610510	135.2	87.7	47.5	0.0	365.5	938.3
620343	107.7	86.5	21.2	0.0	400.1	676.3

Top 20 Exported Item in United Kingdom for the year 2024-2025:

SL	HS Code	Item Name	Amount in USD
1	61091000	61091000: T-Shirts, Singlets And Other Vests, Of Cotton, Knitted Or Crocheted	700,901,325.16
2	61102000	61102000: JERSEYS, PULLOVERS, CARDIGANS, WAISTCOATS & SIMILAR ART., KNITTED OR CROCHETED OF COT	364,396,104.03
3	62034200	62034200: Men'S Or Boys' Bib & Brace Trousers, Breeches, Shorts, Of Cotton	323,907,759.73
4	62046200	62046200: Women'S Or Girls' Trousers, Breeches, Etc, Of Cotton	273,610,362.08
5	61103000	61103000: JERSEYS,PULLOVERS,CARDIGANS,WAISTCOATS.., KNITTED OR CROCHETED OF MAN-MADE FIBRE	255,170,945.17
6	61046200	61046200: Women'S Or Girls' Trousers, Etc, Of Cotton, Knitted Or Crocheted	192,622,282.72
7	62052000	62052000: Men'S Or Boys' Shirts Of Cotton	137,401,223.88
8	62121000	62121000: Brassisres	126,426,063.11
9	61112000	61112000: Babies' Garments, Etc, Of Cotton, Knitted Or Crocheted	121,560,984.99
10	61034200	61034200: Men'S Or Boys' Trousers, Etc, Of Cotton, Knitted Or Crocheted	113,920,061.42
11	61051000	61051000: Men'S Or Boys' Shirts Of Cotton, Knitted Or Crocheted	108,752,574.30
12	61082100	61082100: Women'S Or Girls' Briefs And Panties Of Cotton, Knitted Or Crocheted	105,866,258.00
13	61071100	61071100: Men'S Or Boys' Underpants And Briefs Of Cotton, Knitted Or Crocheted	99,039,052.17
14	61083100	61083100: Women'S Or Girls' Night Dresses, Pyjama Etc, Of Cotton, Knitted Or Croched	96,061,145.01
15	62034300	62034300: Men'S Or Boys' Bib & Brace Trousers, Breeches & Shorts Of Synthetic Fibres	88,607,929.17
16	62053000	62053000: Men'S Or Boys' Shirts Of Man-Made Fibres	67,979,548.38
17	62033300	62033300: Men'S Or Boys' Jackets And Blazers Of Synthetic Fibres	61,831,168.29
18	62046900	62046900: Women'S/Girl'S Trousers,Breeches,Etc,Of Oth.Tex.,(Exl.Wool,Cotton,Syn.Fib.	54,950,097.56
19	61046300	61046300: Women'S Or Girls' Trousers, Etc, Of Synthetic, Knitted Or Crocheted	48,965,779.66
20	62064000	62064000: Women'S Or Girl'S Blouses, Shirts/Blouses Of Man-Made Fibres	47,616,498.93