Following a decline in the past two years, exports of agricultural and food products have picked up pace. Consequently, agricultural export earnings are expected to hit the billion-dollar mark by the end of the 2024-25 fiscal year. This positive outlook comes from industry stakeholders after assessing the export performance in the first half of the fiscal year.
The data analysis shows that after a drop in exports over the past two consecutive fiscal years, the export of domestically produced agricultural and food products has risen sharply in the first six months of the current fiscal year (July-December).
According to data from the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB), exports of agricultural products such as vegetables, fruits, tea, spices, and tobacco increased by 9.31% in the first half of the 2024-25 fiscal year. During the first six months, Bangladeshi entrepreneurs exported products worth $595.51 million. The data shows that in the same period of the previous 2023-24 fiscal year (July-December) exports were valued at $544.77 million.
Analysis of export data shows that higher earnings are coming from the export of fruits, tea, spices, tobacco, and animal fats. Farmers, entrepreneurs, exporters, analysts, and policymakers see a bright potential for the country's agricultural product exports. As per a report from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, this figure has grown 2.9 times since 2005. In 2022, the global value of agricultural exports (excluding fish) was 190.3 billion US dollars.
A report by the United Nations Food and Drug Administration states that the United States is the world's largest exporter of agricultural and food products, with a value of approximately 175 billion dollars. However, export growth decreased to 11 percent in 2022.
According to data from the Export Promotion Bureau, Bangladesh entered the group of countries with billion-dollar agricultural export earnings for the first time in the 2020-21 and 2021-22 fiscal years. However, in the following 2022-23 and 2023-24 fiscal years, agricultural exports declined. According to EPB statistics, agricultural and other processed food exports earned $1.28 billion in the 2020-21 fiscal year. In the 2021-22 fiscal year, the export value was $1.162 billion.
Statistics from the Export Promotion Bureau show that in the following 2022-23 fiscal year, export earnings dropped to $838.03 million. In the 2023-24 fiscal year, export earnings were $964.34 million. As a result, export earnings fell below the billion-dollar mark.
However, in the first six months of the 2024-25 fiscal year (July-December), export earnings are showing signs of recovery, as they have already earned 595.51 million US dollars.
Market experts say that Bangladesh's agricultural products and processed foods, which are among the most valuable items, are predicted to achieve billion-dollar earnings once more in the current fiscal year.
They highlight that re-entering the billion-dollar earnings from agricultural exports is crucial for the country. Agricultural products have added new hope and dimension to the export basket. Consequently, it is anticipated that dependence on ready-made garments will decrease.
For more than three decades, the garment sector has been Bangladesh's top export earner, contributing to almost 80 percent of total exports.
Bd-pratidin English/ Translated by Afia
