Bangladesh's Exports to Japan Up 35 Percent in a Decade, Imports Up 10 Percent

Japan is one of Bangladesh's main trade and development partners. Bilateral trade between the two countries is worth about $3.5 billion a year, of which Bangladesh's exports to Japan account for around 40 percent, with the rest made up of imports.

Bangladesh mainly exports woven and knit garments and leather goods to Japan. In return, it imports iron, steel, ships, vehicles and machinery from Japan.

To expand exports to the Japanese market, Bangladesh signed an Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with Japan on 6 February this year. The benefits of that agreement, however, have not yet been fully reflected in export figures.

Prime Minister Tarique Rahman has travelled to Japan on a four-day state visit aimed at strengthening ties. During the visit he is scheduled to meet Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and to tour a Toyota factory and JERA's LNG terminal.

Japanese outlet Nikkei Asia says Japan wants to invest 1 trillion Japanese yen ($6.35 billion) in Bangladesh's private sector over the next five years, with its entrepreneurs interested in automobiles and other manufacturing industries and in power plant construction.

According to data from Bangladesh Bank and the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB), Bangladesh exported goods worth $1.0129 billion to Japan in the 2016-17 fiscal year. By the latest fiscal year, 2025-26, that had risen to $1.36 billion — an increase of about 35 percent over the decade. Over the same period, imports from Japan rose by about 10 percent.

According to the EPB, Bangladesh exports around 400 types of products to Japan, most of them ready-made garments. Leather and leather goods are another significant sector, alongside frozen fish and aquatic animals, fruits and nuts, tea, coffee and spices, cereals, oilseeds and processed foods. The list also includes furniture and engineering products, electronics and electrical machinery, rubber, pharmaceuticals, toys and sporting goods, wooden products, and paper and printed books.

According to Bangladesh Bank, Bangladesh imported about $1.88 billion worth of goods from Japan in the 2024-25 fiscal year. Iron and steel held the largest share, at 37 percent of total imports from the country, followed by various types of vehicles and their parts. Ships, boats, heavy machinery, boilers, mineral fuels, medical equipment and plastic goods also feature on the import list.

Bangladesh Bank data show net foreign direct investment (FDI) from Japan was $5.2 million in the 2025-26 fiscal year, with the largest share in the trading sector and the second largest in ready-made garments and textiles. In 2024-25, more than $55 million in FDI had come from Japan. In 2018, Japan Tobacco acquired a Bangladeshi company through an investment of $1.476 billion. Around 350 Japanese companies, including Mitsui & Co., Sumitomo Corporation, Mitsubishi and Marubeni, are registered in Bangladesh.

According to the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC), Bangladesh has ranked among the top 20 most promising countries for business expansion for Japanese investors for three consecutive years. A survey by the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) found that about 72 percent of Japanese companies are interested in expanding their business in Bangladesh. A Japanese economic zone has already been established at Araihazar in Narayanganj to attract Japanese investment.

On Japan's investment prospects, former Japan-Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JBCCI) president Tarek Rafi Bhuiyan said many private Japanese firms are now also interested in investing in Bangladesh, and that such investment would inject momentum into a stagnant economy. To achieve that, he said, the EPA must be ratified quickly by both countries' parliaments and brought into force, and Bangladesh must adopt long-term policies and keep them in place.