Bangladesh Clothing Manufacturing Costs
Real cost breakdown for international fashion brands sourcing from Bangladesh. Understand labor rates, material prices, factory overhead, and FOB pricing to plan your margins accurately.
Total FOB cost per garment breaks down into four components that move somewhat independently: labor (the operator's time per piece), fabric and trims (bought by weight or unit, scaling with order size), factory overhead (a relatively fixed per-piece charge regardless of complexity), and shipping (which drops sharply per unit at higher volumes). Understanding how each moves separately — rather than treating "cost" as one number — is what lets a brand negotiate the right lever for their specific order, instead of just asking for a blanket discount.
Labor Costs
Skilled Garment Workers
$120–180 /month
Includes social benefits, overtime rates, and annual bonus as per Bangladesh Labour Law.
Sewing Machine Operators
$80–120 /month
Experienced operators with productivity-based incentives. Minimum wage compliant.
Material Costs
Basic Fabrics
$2–5 /kg
Cotton, polyester, blended. Bulk pricing from 1,000 pcs.
Premium Materials
$5–15 /kg
Organic cotton, recycled polyester, technical performance fabrics. MOQ 500 pcs.
Trims & Accessories
$0.50–5 /unit
Zippers, buttons, labels, hang tags, custom packaging. Sourced in-house.
Overhead & Logistics
Factory Overhead
$0.80–2.00 /piece
Covers utilities, factory management, QC team, compliance reporting, and equipment maintenance.
FOB Shipping
$0.50–3.00 /piece
FOB Chittagong. Includes customs clearance, export documentation, and certificate of origin.
Total Cost Per Garment
FOB Price Range
$3.50 – $12.00
Final price depends on garment complexity, fabric choice, order quantity, and customisation. Prices decrease significantly at 1,000+ and 5,000+ units.
Get a Detailed Quote →Manufacturing Cost FAQ
Why does cost per piece drop at higher order quantities?
Fixed costs — sampling, cutting setup, factory overhead per batch — get spread across more units. Fabric buying also gets more efficient at higher volumes since bulk fabric orders reduce per-kg pricing. The steepest cost drop typically happens between 300 and 1,000 pieces per style.
Are these prices FOB or landed cost?
All figures above are FOB Chittagong — the factory-gate price before freight, insurance, and import duty. Landed cost (your actual all-in cost at your warehouse) adds freight and duty on top, which varies significantly by destination market and product category.
Does GOTS or GRS certified fabric significantly raise the cost?
Certified organic and recycled fabrics generally sit at the higher end of the material cost ranges above, reflecting certification and chain-of-custody documentation costs at the mill level, but the increase is usually moderate rather than dramatic — often a smaller factor than fabric weight or construction complexity.