Is Bangladesh cheaper than Cambodia for garment manufacturing?

Yes, decisively so on labour cost specifically. Bangladesh's entry-level RMG wage runs around $102 a month, about half Cambodia's $210 minimum for the garment, footwear and travel goods sector as of January 2026 — and with compulsory allowances, Cambodia's real take-home climbs closer to $227 to $238. That's not a small gap; it shows up directly in FOB pricing on any labour-intensive style. Cambodia isn't competing on unit labour cost in this pairing, and buyers who choose it over Bangladesh are usually doing so for other reasons entirely: sourcing footwear or travel goods alongside apparel from one region, a smaller and more specialised factory base that suits mid-scale orders better, or the currently longer EU duty-free runway Cambodia's later LDC graduation timeline provides. If labour cost alone is deciding your sourcing country, Bangladesh wins this comparison clearly.

Does Cambodia have duty-free access to the EU?

Mostly, but not for everything. Cambodia is in the same Everything But Arms scheme Bangladesh uses, tied to its own Least Developed Country status, but the EU partially withdrew its preferences from 12 August 2020 over human rights concerns. Selected garments and footwear and all travel goods and sugar, about one-fifth of Cambodia's exports to the EU or around €1 billion a year, have paid the EU's standard duty ever since: the EU tariff still showed 12% on a Cambodian cotton T-shirt on 1 October 2026, while pullovers and trousers entered at zero. So check the duty on your own commodity code before assuming Cambodia is duty-free. Cambodia is scheduled to graduate from LDC status on 19 December 2029, with a three-year EU transition running to roughly 2032 for the lines that still have the preference.

Which has bigger factories, Bangladesh or Cambodia?

Bangladesh, by a genuinely wide margin, not a marginal one. Bangladesh's ready-made garment sector employs three to four million workers, while Cambodia's entire garment, footwear and travel goods industry runs on approximately 900,000 workers across 1,682 factories — meaning Bangladesh's workforce is three to four times the size, with a correspondingly deeper bench of large-capacity factories built specifically for high-volume export orders. That scale gap translates directly into export value too: Bangladesh shipped $38.82 billion in ready-made garments in 2025 against Cambodia's $11.4 billion in garments specifically (or $15.5 billion including footwear and travel goods). If your programme needs serious volume — thousands of pieces per style, consistently, across multiple factories running in parallel — Bangladesh's scale is the more reliable fit. Cambodia's smaller, more specialised factory base tends to suit mid-sized, more varied production better than mega-volume runs.

What is Cambodia better at than Bangladesh?

Footwear and travel goods — bags, luggage — sourced alongside apparel from a single region, which is a genuine structural advantage Bangladesh's industry doesn't offer in the same way. Cambodia's export sector is officially tracked and organised as garment, footwear and travel goods together, reflecting an economy where all three categories grew up integrated rather than apparel dominating everything else the way it does in Bangladesh. That sector combined exported $15.5 billion in 2025, up 15.7% year on year, with garments specifically at $11.4 billion. For a brand that needs footwear or bags alongside its clothing range, sourcing all of it from Cambodia can mean one regional relationship instead of splitting the order across countries. Bangladesh's industry, by contrast, is almost entirely apparel-focused — deep and wide within clothing, but not the place to also source your footwear line.

How do US tariffs compare between Bangladesh and Cambodia?

They are the same today. Since 24 July 2026 goods from both countries pay the normal US duty plus a 10% Section 301 tariff, which works out at about 26.5% on a cotton T-shirt (16.5% plus 10%). The road there was rougher for Cambodia: its 2025 'reciprocal' rate was set as high as 49% before being cut to 19% in August 2025, while Bangladesh came down from 37% to an agreed 19% by February 2026. Those reciprocal tariffs ended after the US Supreme Court ruled on 20 February 2026 that the law behind them does not authorise tariffs. The US has also said it will set quotas letting a set volume of textiles and apparel from each country, sized by its imports of US cotton and textile inputs, enter free of the 10%, but none existed on 1 October 2026. Check the rate on your own HTS code at booking.

How long does Cambodia's EU trade preference last?

Cambodia's Least Developed Country graduation is set for 2029, with a three-year transition period running after that — extending its confirmed Everything But Arms duty-free access to roughly 2032. On current dates that's a longer runway than Bangladesh's, which is scheduled to graduate on 24 November 2026 with EBA benefits running at least until the end of 2029 — though the deferral Bangladesh has requested, still undecided on 1 October 2026, would narrow or close the gap. For a brand planning a multi-year sourcing relationship rather than a single season, that gap is genuinely worth factoring into the decision, since it affects how long the current duty-free cost advantage can be relied on before either country shifts to a different, more conditional trade-preference scheme. Worth remembering, though: Cambodia's EBA access was already partially withdrawn once, in 2020, so a longer timeline on paper isn't the same guarantee as a shorter one that's never been touched.

Bangladesh vs Cambodia Apparel Manufacturing

In short

Bangladesh is the larger and cheaper garment source: it exported US$38.82 billion of garments in 2025 against Cambodia's US$11.4 billion, and its Tk 12,500 minimum wage, about US$102 a month, is roughly half Cambodia's US$210. Cambodia fits buyers who also need footwear or travel goods from one region.

Folded garments stacked ready for export with a shipping tag

Bangladesh and Cambodia are the closest thing to true peers in this series of comparisons — both are Least Developed Countries whose economies lean heavily on a single export: garments. Where Bangladesh vs India or vs Pakistan comes down to different economic shapes, Bangladesh vs Cambodia comes down mostly to scale, wages, and two very similar trade-preference clocks running on slightly different schedules.

Scale is Bangladesh's clearest advantage

Cambodia's garment, footwear and travel goods sector exported $15.5 billion in 2025, up 15.7% year on year — with garments specifically at $11.4 billion, up 16.5%. That's a genuinely strong, fast-growing industry, built on roughly 1,682 factories and just over 900,000 workers. Bangladesh's $38.82 billion in RMG exports in 2025, from a workforce of three to four million, is on another scale entirely — more than three times Cambodia's finished-garment export value, with a correspondingly deeper bench of large-capacity factories for brands that need serious volume in one place.

Indicative comparison for export apparel programmes, mid-2026.
	Bangladesh	Cambodia
Garment exports (2025)	~$38.82B	~$11.4B (garments); ~$15.5B incl. footwear & travel goods
Factories / workforce	~3,300 export factories, ~3–4 million workers	~1,682 factories, ~900,000 workers
Entry-level wage	~Tk 12,500/month (~$102)	$210/month (2026, garment/footwear/travel goods sector)
Product range	Knits, wovens, sweaters, denim	Cut-and-sew knits, footwear, travel goods/bags
EU trade status	LDC/EBA — graduation scheduled Nov 2026 (deferral pending), EBA to at least end-2029	LDC/EBA, with selected garments, footwear and all travel goods at full duty since 2020 — graduates Dec 2029, transition to ~2032
US tariff (from 24 July 2026)	Normal duty + 10% Section 301; US-input quota promised, not yet set	Normal duty + 10% Section 301; US-input quota promised, not yet set

Wages: Cambodia costs more, on paper

Cambodia's garment-sector minimum wage rose to $210 a month from January 2026 (with compulsory allowances pushing real take-home closer to $227–238), against Bangladesh's roughly $102. That's about double, and it shows up directly in FOB pricing on labour-intensive styles — Cambodia is simply not the low-cost option in this pairing the way it can look next to markets with even higher wages. Buyers who choose Cambodia over Bangladesh are usually doing it for reasons other than unit labour cost.

Trade preferences: a similar story, different clocks

Both countries are Least Developed Countries with Everything But Arms access to the EU, but not on equal terms: since 12 August 2020 selected Cambodian garments and footwear and all travel goods have paid the EU's standard duty (a Cambodian T-shirt pays 12%, while pullovers and trousers still enter at zero), whereas Bangladesh's garments enter duty-free. Both are also working through a graduation process. The timelines differ: Bangladesh is scheduled to graduate on 24 November 2026, with EBA benefits running at least until the end of 2029; Cambodia is scheduled to graduate on 19 December 2029, with a three-year transition after that. On those dates Cambodia's runway is roughly three years longer — but Bangladesh has asked the UN to defer its graduation by up to three years, a request still awaiting a General Assembly decision on 1 October 2026, which would narrow or close that gap. For brands planning multi-year sourcing, that gap is worth factoring in.

Cambodia's EBA access has not been free of turbulence, though. The EU partially withdrew EBA benefits from 12 August 2020 over human rights concerns — selected garments and footwear and all travel goods and sugar, about one-fifth of Cambodia's exports to the EU, or around €1 billion a year — and that withdrawal is still in force: the EU tariff showed the full 12% duty on Cambodian T-shirts when we checked on 1 October 2026. That history is a reasonable caution against assuming any LDC trade preference, in either country, is politically permanent.

On US tariffs, Cambodia had the roughest 2025 of any major sourcing country: its 'reciprocal' rate was set as high as 49% before it was cut to 19% in August 2025, and Bangladesh agreed the same 19% in February 2026. Neither figure applies any more. On 20 February 2026 the US Supreme Court ruled that the emergency-powers law behind the reciprocal tariffs does not authorise tariffs, and since 24 July 2026 goods from both countries pay the normal US duty plus a 10% Section 301 tariff, about 26.5% on a cotton T-shirt. The same US notice promises each country a quota letting a set volume of textiles and apparel, sized by its imports of US cotton and textile inputs, enter free of the 10%, 'when feasible'; none had been set by 1 October 2026. Verify the rate on your HTS code at booking.

Where each genuinely wins

Choose Bangladesh when

You need serious volume — Bangladesh's factory base and workforce are several times the size of Cambodia's.
Labour cost is a meaningful part of your margin — Bangladesh's wage floor is roughly half Cambodia's.
Your range spans sweaters, wovens and denim alongside knits — Bangladesh's product breadth is wider.
You want the longest-established, most heavily audited export-compliance infrastructure (RMG Sustainability Council) of any major sourcing country.

Choose Cambodia when

You're sourcing footwear or travel goods (bags, luggage) alongside apparel and want it from one region — bearing in mind that Cambodian travel goods and some footwear pay full duty into the EU.
Your volumes are mid-sized rather than mega-scale, and a smaller, more specialised factory base suits your brand.
You want the longer EBA runway currently on the table, for products the 2020 withdrawal did not touch.

“These are two countries built on the same trade preference and the same single-industry bet — the real choice is less about which is 'better' and more about which scale, wage point and product mix actually fits your order.”

Risk and compliance

Both countries deserve the same discipline: verified certificates, a recent audit report, and named factories rather than anonymous "partner networks." Cambodia's 2020 partial EBA withdrawal is a useful reminder that trade preferences carry real political risk in both directions — the same caution applies to Bangladesh's own graduation transition through 2029. Neither country's preferential access should be treated as guaranteed for the life of a multi-year sourcing relationship without checking in periodically.

Frequently asked questions

Is Bangladesh cheaper than Cambodia for garment manufacturing?
Yes, decisively so on labour cost specifically. Bangladesh's entry-level RMG wage runs around $102 a month, about half Cambodia's $210 minimum for the garment, footwear and travel goods sector as of January 2026 — and with compulsory allowances, Cambodia's real take-home climbs closer to $227 to $238. That's not a small gap; it shows up directly in FOB pricing on any labour-intensive style. Cambodia isn't competing on unit labour cost in this pairing, and buyers who choose it over Bangladesh are usually doing so for other reasons entirely: sourcing footwear or travel goods alongside apparel from one region, a smaller and more specialised factory base that suits mid-scale orders better, or the currently longer EU duty-free runway Cambodia's later LDC graduation timeline provides. If labour cost alone is deciding your sourcing country, Bangladesh wins this comparison clearly.
Does Cambodia have duty-free access to the EU?
Mostly, but not for everything. Cambodia is in the same Everything But Arms scheme Bangladesh uses, tied to its own Least Developed Country status, but the EU partially withdrew its preferences from 12 August 2020 over human rights concerns. Selected garments and footwear and all travel goods and sugar, about one-fifth of Cambodia's exports to the EU or around €1 billion a year, have paid the EU's standard duty ever since: the EU tariff still showed 12% on a Cambodian cotton T-shirt on 1 October 2026, while pullovers and trousers entered at zero. So check the duty on your own commodity code before assuming Cambodia is duty-free. Cambodia is scheduled to graduate from LDC status on 19 December 2029, with a three-year EU transition running to roughly 2032 for the lines that still have the preference.
Which has bigger factories, Bangladesh or Cambodia?
Bangladesh, by a genuinely wide margin, not a marginal one. Bangladesh's ready-made garment sector employs three to four million workers, while Cambodia's entire garment, footwear and travel goods industry runs on approximately 900,000 workers across 1,682 factories — meaning Bangladesh's workforce is three to four times the size, with a correspondingly deeper bench of large-capacity factories built specifically for high-volume export orders. That scale gap translates directly into export value too: Bangladesh shipped $38.82 billion in ready-made garments in 2025 against Cambodia's $11.4 billion in garments specifically (or $15.5 billion including footwear and travel goods). If your programme needs serious volume — thousands of pieces per style, consistently, across multiple factories running in parallel — Bangladesh's scale is the more reliable fit. Cambodia's smaller, more specialised factory base tends to suit mid-sized, more varied production better than mega-volume runs.
What is Cambodia better at than Bangladesh?
Footwear and travel goods — bags, luggage — sourced alongside apparel from a single region, which is a genuine structural advantage Bangladesh's industry doesn't offer in the same way. Cambodia's export sector is officially tracked and organised as garment, footwear and travel goods together, reflecting an economy where all three categories grew up integrated rather than apparel dominating everything else the way it does in Bangladesh. That sector combined exported $15.5 billion in 2025, up 15.7% year on year, with garments specifically at $11.4 billion. For a brand that needs footwear or bags alongside its clothing range, sourcing all of it from Cambodia can mean one regional relationship instead of splitting the order across countries. Bangladesh's industry, by contrast, is almost entirely apparel-focused — deep and wide within clothing, but not the place to also source your footwear line.
How do US tariffs compare between Bangladesh and Cambodia?
They are the same today. Since 24 July 2026 goods from both countries pay the normal US duty plus a 10% Section 301 tariff, which works out at about 26.5% on a cotton T-shirt (16.5% plus 10%). The road there was rougher for Cambodia: its 2025 'reciprocal' rate was set as high as 49% before being cut to 19% in August 2025, while Bangladesh came down from 37% to an agreed 19% by February 2026. Those reciprocal tariffs ended after the US Supreme Court ruled on 20 February 2026 that the law behind them does not authorise tariffs. The US has also said it will set quotas letting a set volume of textiles and apparel from each country, sized by its imports of US cotton and textile inputs, enter free of the 10%, but none existed on 1 October 2026. Check the rate on your own HTS code at booking.
How long does Cambodia's EU trade preference last?
Cambodia's Least Developed Country graduation is set for 2029, with a three-year transition period running after that — extending its confirmed Everything But Arms duty-free access to roughly 2032. On current dates that's a longer runway than Bangladesh's, which is scheduled to graduate on 24 November 2026 with EBA benefits running at least until the end of 2029 — though the deferral Bangladesh has requested, still undecided on 1 October 2026, would narrow or close the gap. For a brand planning a multi-year sourcing relationship rather than a single season, that gap is genuinely worth factoring into the decision, since it affects how long the current duty-free cost advantage can be relied on before either country shifts to a different, more conditional trade-preference scheme. Worth remembering, though: Cambodia's EBA access was already partially withdrawn once, in 2020, so a longer timeline on paper isn't the same guarantee as a shorter one that's never been touched.

Where to next

Sources

If footwear or travel goods are part of your range, Cambodia may genuinely be the better regional fit — we'll say so. For everything else in our range, send us the spec and we'll show you the honest cost comparison.

Written by

Homaira Jashim

Director, Belle Vouz Ltd

Homaira Jashim is a director of Belle Vouz Ltd and a co-founder of Collective Studio Ltd, its group company in Narayanganj. She works with brands from first enquiry to repeat orders.

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Bangladesh vs Cambodia apparel manufacturing: an honest comparison