Per hour earning from the export of apparel in Bangladesh is lowest in South Asia although the country is the top regional exporter and the world’s second largest apparel exporter. According to a World Bank report, Bangladesh’s per hour earning from apparel export is $0.51 while it is $0.55 for Sri Lanka, $0.58 for Pakistan and $1.06 for India. The amount is significantly high in China-- $2.6. Again, per capita export earning of apparel in Bangladesh is $126 which is well above the regional average worth $70 in South Asia but well below China ($365) and Vietnam ($312). The World Bank report titled ‘South Asia’s Turn: Policies to Boost Competitiveness and Create the Next Export Powerhouse’ portrays the picture. The report said that though the region possesses several key advantages in the apparel sector, its share of the global apparel market continues to lag behind China which accounts for 41 per cent of the global market. South Asia’s share of the global apparel market increased to 12.3 per cent in 2012 from 7.5 per cent in 2000. “Despite higher labour costs, China is able to attract buyers by offering a wide range of apparel at short lead times, while high productivity limits total costs despite high wages,” it said. “No country in South Asia has thus far succeeded in offering a comparable package of goods and services,” added the report. In terms of products, each of the four South Asian countries have significant export positions in final apparel, covering nearly the full range of garment products, while the intermediate apparel—dominated by cotton textiles—is particularly important in India and Pakistan.
Bangladesh’s exports of final apparel in 2013—which have nearly tripled since 2007—amounted to over US$26 billion, making it the second largest exporter of final apparel in the world next to China.  Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, due in particular to effective import facilities for exporters, perform at East Asia’s level in terms of exports per capita ($216 and $147, respectively), while India and Pakistan are at an order of magnitude lower ($10 and $23, respectively). Annual growth rates of exports over 2003‐2013 72 South in India (9.6 per cent) and Sri Lanka (5.3 per cent) were modest, and in Pakistan were sluggish (2.7 per cent). These rates of growth, however, may not necessarily reflect productivity improvements because the region benefited from the 2005 elimination of the Multi‐Fiber Agreement (MFA), which had restricted textile imports from developing countries to developed countries (World Bank, 2015).