Merchandise shipments fell by 5.21 per cent during the first seven months of current fiscal year (FY20), as export earnings continue to witness downtrend in recent months.
Total export earnings from July to January reached $22.19 billion against $24.17 billion fetched during the same period of last fiscal (FY19).
The income also fell short of the target by 13 per cent set for the period, according to the latest data of the state-run Export Promotion Bureau (EPB).
The single-month export earnings in January 2020, however, edged up by 1.70 per cent to $3.61 billion.
Clothing sector is the country's top foreign-currency earner accounting for more than 84 per cent of total overseas sales.
Exporters and officials have attributed the continual drop in export receipts of apparel items to both internal and external factors.
Overall export earnings from the garment items, both knitwear and woven, fell by 5.71 per cent during the July-January period of FY20.
The apparel sector fetched nearly $19.06 billion during the period in review against $20.21 billion during the same period of FY19.
Earnings from woven garments fell by 6.29 per cent to $9.44 billion in the first seven months of this fiscal, the EPB figure showed.
Proceeds from knitwear exports during the period also fell by 5.13 per cent to nearly $9.62 billion.
Woven and knitwear brought in $10.07 billion and $10.14 billion, respectively, in July-January period of last fiscal.
Earnings from other key sectors also fell during the first seven months of current fiscal, compared to the same period of previous fiscal.
The EPB data showed earnings from home textiles stood at $442.67 million, down 9.7 per cent, from $490.2 million.
Earnings from home textiles also fell short of the target by 14.19 per cent.
According to the EPB data, earnings from leather and leather goods export fell by 10.78 per cent to $558.9 million from $626.42 million.
Jute and jute goods exports during the period, however, climbed by 20.82 per cent to $602.49 million from $498.66 million.
Agro-products like vegetables, fruits and spice exports stood at $603.91 million, registering a 4.19 per cent growth.
Pharmaceuticals exports grew by 8.11 per cent to $85.70 million.
Frozen and live fish exports hauled $337.33 million in the first seven months of this fiscal, registering a 6.58 per cent negative growth.
Exports of engineering products fell by 2.28 per cent to $194.82 million from $199.36 million.
The country fetched $40.53 billion from goods exports during the last fiscal, of which some $34.13 billion came from textiles and clothing alone, the data shows.
munni_fe@yahoo.com