The value of apparel exports from Myanmar dropped 11.75 per cent to $4.6 billion in 2020, compared to a year earlier, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, according to data from market intelligence provider, Texpro.

The country’s recent military coup is likely to cause further pain for exports, with expected cancellations of upcoming shipments and sanctions from Myanmar’s major export destinations, to markets such as the EU and US which previously granted duty-free access to goods from the Southeast Asian nation.

Myanmar’s apparel industry has accounted for as much as one-third of the country’s total exports and employs half a million people, mostly women.