There are over 50.17 lakh workers working in garment factories in the country and 55.57 per cent of them are women, state minister for labour and employment Nazrul Islam Chowdhury told Jatiya Sangsad on Sunday.
The state minister gave this information in response to a question of ruling Awami League lawmaker Nurunnabi Chowdhury from Bhola-3.
According to the information of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association, there are 33 lakh 17 thousand 397 workers in the garment factories in Bangladesh, the state minister said.
Among them, 52.28 per cent are women workers, the minister said, adding that the number of women workers is 17.34 lakh.
On the other hand, according to the Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association data, there are 17 lakh workers in the knitwear sector, of which 62 per cent 鈥� 10.54 lakh are women.
In total, there are 50.17 lakh workers in the garment industry in the country, of which 55.57 per cent鈥�27.88 lakh are women workers, the minister said.
Citing data collected from the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics, the state minister said that according to the 2022 labour force survey, the total workforce in the garment sector is 43,16,000, of which 37.51 per cent meaning 16.19 lakh are women.
In reply to another query, the state minister for commerce Ahsanul Islam Titu said that due to the adverse impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, the effect of the Russia-Ukraine war, global economic recession and price inflation in America and Europe, the main export markets of Bangladesh, the slow pace of export earnings was being observed.
Bangladesh鈥檚 main export product, manufactured garments, has decreased in demand in the world market, resulting in a decline in export growth, he added.
In countries such as the United Kingdom, France, Spain, Canada and Japan, the trend of export earnings from this sector, however, continues to grow, the minister also said.
Responding to a question from AL lawmaker Morshed Alam, Ahsanul said that the FY2022-23 saw the highest inflation in the past 12 years.
He added that Inflation in this financial year was 9.02 per cent.
According to the information placed by the state minister, the inflation rate was 8.69 per cent in 2011-12 fiscal, 6.78 per cent in 2012-13 fiscal, 7.35 per cent in 2013-14, 6.41 per cent in 2014-15, 5.92 per cent in 2015-16, 5.44 per cent in 2016-17, 5.78 per cent in 2017-18, 5.48 per cent in 2018-19, 5.65 per cent in 2019-20, 5.56 per cent in 2020-21, 6.15 per cent in 2021-22 and 9.02 per cent inflation rate in 2022-23.
In response to AL lawmaker Samil Uddin Ahmed, the state minister for commerce said that currently Bangladesh had business transactions with 210 countries of the world.
Among the countries, Bangladesh has a trade deficit with 82 countries, the minister said.
According to the information placed by the state minister, Bangladesh has the largest trade deficit with China which is $17,149.2 million.
According to the statistics of 2022-23, the total trade deficit of Bangladesh is $15,239.55 million.
In response to the question of independent lawmaker Abul Kalam from Natore-1, Ahsanul Islam Titu said that there is a trade deficit with countries other than Sri Lanka and the Maldives among the SAARC countries.
In response to the question of AL lawmaker SM Ataul Haque of Satkhira-4, State Minister for Disaster Management and Relief Mohibbur Rahman said that the amount of damage in the whole country due to cyclone Remal was around Tk 7,482 crore.
In response to the question of Mahbubur Rahman from Chattogram-1, the state minister said that the death toll in Remal was 20 while the number of affected people was 3.83 lakh people.
In response to the question of AL lawmaker Parveen Zaman from the reserved seat, state minister for expatriates鈥� welfare Shafiqul Islam Chowdhury said that in the past 15 years from 2009 till June 11, 2024, 11.14 lakh women workers had gone abroad for jobs.
The state minister said that most of the women workers had gone to Saudi Arabia.