According to the official US apparel import data, India surpassed Indonesia for the first time ever in garment exports to the largest apparel market in the world during 2021.
India clocked US $ 4.19 from its apparel exports to USA in 2021, outclassing the performance of Indonesia that shipped US $ 4.14 billion worth of apparels to USA.
In 2019, India’s exports of apparel valued US $ 4.05 billion and its gap from Indonesia’s shipment was US $ 339 million. The gap further increased to US $ 495.17 million in 2020, in a pandemic-induced year.
However, all through 2021, India’s apparel export fraternity – buoyed by strong orders and revival of global retail industry – remained resilient and outperformed its own exports to the USA.
In terms of growth, India’s growth rate remains the highest (38.92 per cent) amongst top five apparel exporting destinations to USA during 2021, followed by Bangladesh (up 36.70%); China (up 29.40%); Indonesia (up 17.92%) and Vietnam (up 14.33%).
The positive performance in its top apparel export market led India to conclude 2021 with US $ 15.21 billion worth of apparel export values, noting 24% Y-o-Y growth.
