The country's earnings from shipment of merchandise products declined by 9.83 per cent to US$ 2.03 billion in September 2017 over the corresponding month of 2016.
The earnings in the third month of the current fiscal year (FY), 2017-18, also fell short of its respective target, $2.77 billion as set by the government for the month, by 26.72 per cent.
However, export earnings witnessed a strong growth in first two months of the current fiscal year (FY) - July and August - by 26.54 per cent and 10.71 per cent respectively, according to official data of Export Promotion Bureau (EPB), released on Sunday.
Subsequently, overall export earnings in the first quarter (Q1) of FY 18 grew by 7.23 per cent to $8.66 billion compared to that of $8.07 billion in the same period of FY 17, the EPB data showed.
The total earnings of July-September were 2.84 per cent lower than the target of $8.91 billion, set by the government for the period.
Experts and exporters attributed slow pace in shipment of products during the weeklong Eid vacation for such performance.
Some policy interventions from the government, like - extending bonded warehouse facility to all export-oriented sectors, are important to increase the country's export earnings and to ensure diversification of products, they opined.
Earnings from export of ready-made garment (RMG) products in the first quarter of FY 18 grew by 7.17 per cent to $7.14 billion, from $6.66 billion in the same period of FY 17.
The export earnings from knitwear in July-September period of current fiscal rose 10.8 per cent to $3.74 billion, compared to $3.4 billion in the same period of last fiscal.
The country fetched $3.40 billion from woven item exports in Q1 of this FY, marking 4.04 per cent growth.
Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) President Md Siddiqur Rahman said September export earnings registered the negative growth due to week-long Eid vacation in the RMG factories.
But more than 9.0 per cent declining trend is alarming, he noted.
"We have to wait up to November-December to get a total picture of the country's export earning trend," the BGMEA president added.
Exports of leather and leather products in the first quarter of this fiscal grew by 1.74 per cent to $324.62 million, compared to that of $319.06 million in the same period of FY 17.
The EPB data showed that earnings from jute and jute goods in Q1 of current fiscal stood at $204.51 million, recording 15.46 per cent growth.
Frozen food and live fish exports during the period grew by 23.08 per cent to $168.27 million, according to the data.
