Export earnings from the country's merchandise shipments during the first four months of the current fiscal year (FY) stood at $13.65 billion, marking an 18.65 per cent growth over the corresponding period of last fiscal, according to official data.
The exports fetched $11.50 billion during the July-October period of the FY 2017-18.
The export performance was 12.57 per cent higher than the quarterly target set for this fiscal, data showed.
The single month earnings in October last grew by 30.53 per cent to $3.71 billion from $2.84 billion in 2017, according to the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) data released on Tuesday.
The October performance also surpassed the target set for the month by 32.68 per cent.
Earnings from export of readymade garments (RMG) during the July-October of the current fiscal grew by 20.08 per cent to $11.33 billion from $8.19 billion in the corresponding period of last fiscal, according to EPB data.
The earnings also surpassed the target by 11.50 per cent.
The country earned $5.87 billion from knitwear exports during the period. It marked a growth of 17.83 per cent compared to $4.98 billion in the corresponding period of last fiscal.
Export of woven garments in the first four months of FY'19 grew by 22.61 per cent to $5.45 billion, from $4.45 billion in the same period of last fiscal.
The EPB data showed that earnings from home textile export witnessed an increase of 3.37 per cent to $269.57 million from $260.79 million.
When asked, terming the RMG export growth 'very positive' Faruque Hassan, vice president of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), attributed such performance to some internal and external factors.
Entrepreneurs were investing more in technology, process upgradation, and design development alongside the ongoing post-inspection remedial work. All those efforts have helped regain buyers' confidence and encouraged them to source their products from Bangladesh, he said.
Moreover, Bangladesh was also getting the advantage of the trade war between the USA and China and the US buyers are also sourcing more from Bangladesh, he noted.
He also linked the efforts of local manufacturers both to diversify the market and RMG products to the good export performance.
He, however, suggested enhancing energy and productivity efficiency to sustain the growth at a time when the cost of doing business was going up.
A stable political situation was also needed to continue in this regard, the BGMEA leader opined.
Earnings from home textile, however, fell short of the target by 7.77 per cent during the July-October period of FY'19.
Jute and jute goods earnings in July-October in the current fiscal fell by 16.28 per cent to $288.85 million, from $345.01 million in the same period of the last fiscal year.
The country earned $345.2 million from leather and leather product exports in the first four months of FY 19, marking a 19.43 per cent negative growth during the period.
Earnings from leather footwear grew 6.90 per cent to $216.16 million in the July-October period.
Frozen and live fish exports in the first four months of the current fiscal witnessed a negative growth of 13.04 per cent to $197.31 million during the same period of the current fiscal, according to data.
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