During the first 11 months of 2022, textile exports from the island nation increased by 2.3 per cent year-on-year to $323.9 million. However, exports of other made-up textile articles stood at $106.1 million during the same period, registering a negative growth of 10.6 per cent, according to the central bank’s report titled ‘External Sector Performance’. 

Textiles, garment, and other made-up textile articles’ exports together accounted for 56.91 per cent of all industrial exports from Sri Lanka during the period under review, the report showed. The exports of all textile products totalled $5,470.5 million in January-November 2022, which was 11.6 per cent higher than the shipment during the same period last year. 

Sri Lanka’s garment exports stood at $5,040.5 million during January-November 2022, which grew by 12.8 per cent over the exports of $4,466.7 million in the same period of the previous year, as per statistics released by the Central Bank of Sri Lanka. Its garment exports dropped by 8.3 per cent in November 2022 due to the slowdown in the world economy.

In October 2022, garment and textile exports from the South Asian nation declined by 9.7 per cent year-on-year to reach at $449.8 million. Category-wise, garment exports decreased by 8.3 per cent to $417.8 million, while textile exports fell 21.3 per cent to $24.5 million. The exports of other made-up textile articles were down by 35 per cent to $7.5 million. 

On the other hand, imports of textiles and textile articles rose by 3.4 per cent to $2,864.3 million, while clothing and accessories imports were up by 1.4 per cent to $200.8 million during January- November 2022. 

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (KUL)