Bangladesh vs Pakistan for clothing manufacturing

Bangladesh is the far larger clothing exporter: its garment exports were US$38.70 billion in the year to June 2026, while Pakistan’s knitwear and ready-made garments together came to about US$9.25 billion. Pakistan’s strength is the cotton chain behind the garment: it grows its own cotton and exports large amounts of bedwear, towels, cotton cloth and yarn. For cut-and-sew clothing at volume, Bangladesh usually has the deeper factory base; for towels, bedding and cotton-fabric-led products, Pakistan is a serious alternative.

Export scale in 2025/26

Both countries run a July to June financial year, so their official figures line up. Bangladesh’s come from the Export Promotion Bureau, as reported by The Business Standard; Pakistan’s from the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, as reported by MM News.

Adding Pakistan’s knitwear and ready-made garments gives about US$9.25 billion of clothing, roughly a quarter of Bangladesh’s total. The arithmetic is ours; the categories are the statistics offices’ own. The table also shows the difference in shape. Garments are more than 80% of everything Bangladesh exports. In Pakistan, clothing is about half of a textile group that also sells bed linen, towels, fabric and yarn.

The direction of travel differed too. Bangladesh’s garment exports fell 1.64% in 2025/26, which exporters blamed on US tariffs and weak demand, though June 2026 rebounded by 21.52%. Pakistan’s ready-made garments rose 3.87% while its knitwear slipped 0.88%, leaving the whole textile group almost flat at plus 0.26%. Neither year changes the basic proportions: Bangladesh remains roughly four times Pakistan’s size in clothing.

What each country makes best

UN Comtrade data, shown by Trading Economics for 2025, gives the same picture by customs chapter for Pakistan: US$5.12 billion of knitted apparel (HS chapter 61), US$4.23 billion of woven apparel (chapter 62), US$5.70 billion of other made-up textile articles such as bed linen and towels (chapter 63), and US$2.38 billion of cotton (chapter 52). Home textiles earn Pakistan as much as either type of clothing.

Bangladesh’s export mix is concentrated in the garments themselves: t-shirts, polos, sweatshirts and underwear from vertical knit factories, and trousers, shirts, jackets and denim from woven factories. Pakistan also makes denim, jeans and knitwear, but its official statistics fold denim into woven garments and cotton cloth, so there is no clean public figure to compare, and we do not invent one. If denim is your product, ask each mill for its own fabric and garment capacity rather than relying on a country average.

A rough rule for a brand choosing between them:

• Cotton t-shirts, polos, fleece, underwear and basics at volume: Bangladesh, where the knit industry is largest.
• Woven shirts, trousers and jackets: both, with Bangladesh offering more factories to choose from.
• Towels, bed linen and other home textiles: a major export category for Pakistan; Bangladesh also makes them, as our towel and home textile page shows.
• Cotton-fabric-led products where the mill matters most: Pakistan’s integrated spinning and weaving base deserves a look.

Cotton: grown at home or imported

The biggest structural difference is fibre. Pakistan grows cotton. The USDA Foreign Agricultural Service estimates its 2025/26 crop at about 5.3 million bales (of 480 lb) once unreported output is counted, and forecasts 5.05 million for 2026/27. The same report notes that the crop has been stuck between 5.0 and 5.5 million bales for five years, and that Pakistan is importing more cotton to make up the shortfall.

Bangladesh grows very little and imports almost all of its cotton. The USDA’s April 2026 report forecasts Bangladesh’s cotton imports at 7.7 million bales for 2026/27, down because of energy shortages and lower garment output. In practice this means a Bangladeshi factory buys fibre, yarn or fabric on the world market, while a Pakistani mill may use local cotton. That matters for three things: fabric lead time, cost exposure to world cotton prices, and traceability. A buyer who needs to prove where the cotton was grown has to trace it in either country; our four-country sourcing comparison covers fabric supply across Asia more broadly.

Duty access by market

For most buyers the deciding factor is not the factory but the duty at the destination. The position in September 2026:

In the EU, Pakistan’s GSP+ access is conditional on implementing international conventions on human rights, labour rights and the environment, and is reviewed. In the UK, check the specific commodity code under the Enhanced tier, because 8% of product lines are not fully duty-free. In the US, neither country has a preference for clothing. After the Supreme Court struck down the earlier reciprocal tariffs in February 2026, the US imposed a 10% tariff under Section 301 of the Trade Act on 18 countries in July 2026, including both Bangladesh and Pakistan, as The Daily Star reported; Bangladeshi officials put the resulting total tariff on Bangladesh’s garments at 25.62%. Our EU, UK and US market pages explain duty and origin rules for each destination.

Bangladesh’s LDC graduation changes the picture

Bangladesh’s EU and UK advantage comes from its status as a least developed country (LDC). It is scheduled to graduate from that category on 24 November 2026. In July 2026 the Atlantic Council reported that the UN Committee for Development Policy had recommended a three-year extension to November 2029, with final endorsement by the UN General Assembly still pending. Graduation does not end duty-free access overnight; the EU and UK schemes include transition periods. But over the next few years Bangladesh’s duty edge over Pakistan in Europe is likely to narrow, and after it Bangladesh would need another route, such as GSP+ status or a trade agreement, to keep duty-free access. Our guide to LDC graduation and duty-free apparel sets out the timetable and what it means for landed cost.

Safety and compliance

Both countries now have a binding safety programme under the International Accord. Bangladesh’s has run since 2013 and is implemented today by the RMG Sustainability Council. Pakistan’s began on 1 January 2023 and, according to the ILO’s Better Work programme, targets more than 500 factories in Sindh and Punjab producing for Accord signatory brands. Bangladesh’s programme is older and larger, with public inspection reports and remediation data for each covered factory. In either country, safety and social compliance are properties of the individual factory, so the checks are the same: name the factory, look it up, read its audit and remediation record.

Which buyer each country suits

These are starting points, not rules. A good factory in the “wrong” country will beat a poor one in the right country every time.

How to compare quotes from both countries fairly

Buyers who test both countries often compare numbers that do not describe the same thing. A fair comparison needs the same inputs on both sides:

• The same specification. One tech pack, with fabric composition and weight, construction, measurements and trims fixed. A cheaper quote on a lighter fabric is not a cheaper garment.
• The same Incoterm. Compare FOB with FOB, or better, compare landed cost delivered to your warehouse, because freight and duty differ between the two countries.
• The duty for your market and your commodity code. Use the preference scheme that actually applies, and include the proof of origin it requires.
• The named factory. Ask each supplier which factory will make the goods and check its safety and audit record. A quote from an intermediary that will not name the factory cannot be compared with one that does.
• The fabric route. Ask where the fabric is made and how long it takes to arrive. In Pakistan it may be local; in Bangladesh it may be local knit fabric or imported woven fabric.
• A paid sample from each. A sample made to your specification tells you more than any comparison table.

What to do next

Price your product in both places on a landed basis, including duty for your market, before you decide. If your range is clothing and your market is Europe, the UK or the US, send us your product details: CMB Sourcing places each order in an audited partner factory in Bangladesh, named in writing before production, and quotes FOB, CIF or DDP. If Bangladesh is the wrong choice for your product, we will say so.