The RMG business started in Bangladesh in the 70s but it was then merely a casual effort. The first consignment of knitwear export was made in 1973 and the first consignment of woven garments was made in 1977. In 1981-82 the contribution of Woven garments in the total export was 1.10%. Afterwards it is a story of sustained success for the Bangladesh RMG sector. The knitwear sector has grown over the years in geometric progression and become the prime driving force of Bangladesh’s export earnings. Within a decade the contribution of Woven to the export basket became 42.83% (1990-91) and the knitwear sector’s contribution was 7.64% (1990-91). Now Knitwear has become the largest export earning sector of Bangladesh contributing 40.01% to national export earnings at the end of FY 2009-10 (July-April).

The entrepreneurs of the knit sector stepped forward with their expertise in the late 80's. With their earnest efforts they were able to export US$ 14.84 million in 1989-90. Out of this, US$ 12.22 million was exported to EU and US$ 2.02 million was exported to US. The trend continued in the knit sector because of the market access opportunities provided to the LDCs under the Generalized Systems of Preference (GSP) benefit.

This is the rejuvenated beginning of the epic story of Bangladeshi knitwear sector that in true sense has been possible due to massive industrialization in a sustainable way with effect on all probable human development aspects which is the encouraging part of the story.

The growth of knitwear sector is increasing at an increasing rate. The cumulative average growth rate of the sector is 20%. And it is continuously grabbing more portions in the export pie of Bangladesh. This is mainly attributed to the facilities provided under the EC GSP and ROO. The knitwear sector is heavily driven by the favorable policies and took the opportunity to develop a strong backward linkage for the sector.

The EU is the main export region of Bangladeshi Knitwear constituting 72.68% (US$ 4.71 billion) of total knitwear export followed by the USA (13.75%, i.e. US$ 891.61 million) in the year 2009-10. This is mainly attributed to the facilities provided under the EC GSP and favorable ROO. The knitwear sector is heavily driven by these favorable policies and took the opportunity to develop a strong backward linkage for the sector where the value addition is about 75%. The two-stage transformation requirement of ROO in 1999 boosted market penetration in the EU further; it contributed a growth of 101.19% since 2000-2001

Bangladesh RMG sector has successfully passed some critical tests and is now sailing with two masts: knit and woven. The sub-sectors are now in healthy competition among themselves to take the role of leadership within the country.
In FY 2003-04, knitwear for the first time exceeded woven wear and became the leader in terms of both quantity exported and value with 91.6 million dozens and 2148.02 million USD. Knitwear is still leading in terms of quantity exported and is widening the gap day by day. Export quantity of knitwear items.

Bangladesh knitwear is performing a well increase in terms of quantity which is a clear indication of increase of capacity in this sector. In the year 2009-10, the contribution of Woven wear to the export earning was 37.11% and in Knitwear was 40.01%.