Bangladesh To Remain The Top Garment Sourcing Destination: Reports McKinsey & Company

During the period, the country's garment exports will grow 7-9 percent year-on-year, while India and Vietnam will be its nearest competitors, according to the survey report.

The survey was conducted among 40 chief purchasing officers (CPOs) of top 40 international garment retailers during January-February this year.

Some African countries are also coming up strongly in the global garment business, said McKinsey & Company, which is a global management consulting firm and serves leading businesses, governments, non-governmental organisations, and not-for-profits.

The respondents in the survey "Sourcing in a volatile world: The East Africa opportunity" cumulatively purchased $70 billion worth of garment items worldwide in 2014.

“For international CPOs, Bangladesh remains the top future sourcing destination, as 48 percent of respondents put it in the top-3 up-and-coming sourcing markets,” according to the report.

“Sixty-two percent of our respondents said they intended to increase their sourcing value from Bangladesh over the next five years.”

Among top 10 sourcing destinations, Vietnam is in the second position as 33 percent respondents chose this country while, India, Myanmar and Turkey are in the third position as 30 percent respondents chose them as sourcing destination.

Twenty-three percent respondents chose China, 13 percent Ethiopia, 10 percent Indonesia, while 5 percent CPOs chose Egypt, Sri Lanka and Tunisia as the top 10 sourcing destinations.

“We must note that even these three top countries' combined export is only one-third of the dollar value coming from China currently. China remains the undisputed giant of garment exports, with eight times the dollar volume of exports than the number two Asian apparel sourcing country, Bangladesh.”

Vietnam and India are tied for the third place, each exporting garments worth around $17 billion.

Despite high growth over recent years neither country poses a threat to China's dominance at the moment, as all are facing their individual challenges in terms of political stability, garment industry structure, or competitiveness.

Bangladesh will face further challenge in global apparel trade, particularly in the US, for the renewal of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) as 39 Africa countries have been enjoying duty benefit under the agreement.