Workers at a garment factory in Takmao city. Post Staff
The value of Cambodia’s garment exports reached over $9.33 billion in the first 10 months of 2024, surpassing the total export value of garments in 2023. The US and Europe remain the most important export markets for the kingdom’s garment exports.
According to data from the General Department of Customs and Excise of Cambodia (GDCE) published on November 11, between January and October 2024, Cambodia exported garments and footwear with HS codes 61 and 62, which include articles of apparel and clothing accessories (knitted and not knitted or crocheted), as well as HS codes 64 (Footwear, gaiters and the like; parts of such articles).
These products amounted to $9.33 billion, an increase of 23.47% compared to the same period in 2023, which was valued at $7.56 billion. This represented 43.25% of Cambodia's total exports for the same period in 2024, which amounted to $21.57 billion.
Breaking down the data by HS code, products under code 61 (knitted apparel) totalled $5.47 billion, up 20.5% compared to the same period in 2023. Products under code 62 (non-knitted apparel) amounted to $2.53 billion, increasing by 31.1%, while products under code 64 (footwear and gaiters) reached $1.33 billion, up 22.3%.
Hong Vanak, an economist at the Royal Academy of Cambodia, told The Post on November 12 that the resilience of the global economy, political stability in major garment-exporting countries, favourable export tax incentives and increasing production capacity in Cambodia have contributed to the continuous rise in garment exports over the past year.
“As these products are closely related to lifestyle and travel, demand tends to increase when global tourism is on the rise,” he explained.
“Given the current global economic situation, I believe Cambodia’s garment exports will continue to grow, while the expansion of export markets will also increase,” he added.
Ly Kunthai, president of the Confederation of Cambodia Investors Association (CCIA) and the Cambodia Footwear Association (CFA), told The Post in October that after a decline due to the Covid-19 pandemic, garment exports have shown signs of recovery since mid-2023.
He added that the rise in garment exports is due to Cambodia's political stability, attractive investment laws, skilled labour force, improved infrastructure and growing markets for Cambodian products.
“The growth in garment exports is also because Cambodia has political stability and is one of the most stable countries in ASEAN. The workforce is efficient, and there is a good reputation for producing both quality and quantity,” he said.
He believed that this achievement was made possible due to strong efforts by the government to promote Cambodia and attract foreign direct investment, as well as to secure orders for Cambodian-made products.
According to Kunthay, key markets for Cambodian garment exports include the US, the EU, the UK, Japan, South Korea and China.
Looking ahead to the remainder of 2024 and into 2025, he noted that garment exports are expected to continue growing.
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) predicted in September that Cambodia's economic growth in 2024 will be between 5.8% and 5.5%. This growth is supported by the revival of the garment sector, followed by agriculture and tourism.
“The recovery in the manufacturing sector, particularly in garments, footwear and travel goods [GFT], is driving Cambodia's economic growth,” said ADB country director Jyotsana Varma.
“In addition, agriculture and tourism are making steady progress, and sustained foreign direct investment is supporting the nation’s economic momentum, paving the way for a promising 2024 and strong growth into 2025 and beyond,” he added.
GDCE data revealed that in 2023, exports of the three categories mentioned above totalled $9.23 billion, a decrease of 14.28% compared to 2022, which saw exports of $10.77 billion.
