CPD RMG Study Stitching a better future for Bangladesh
The recent research note released by International Labour Organization (ILO) presents the latest employment and wage estimates within the garment, textile and footwear (GTF) industry of 12 major garment-producing countries in developing Asia, where Bangladesh was recorded having the lowest gender pay gap compared to others in the study perimeter. The report covers Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia, Pakistan, Cambodia, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Philippines, Lao People’s Democratic Republic and Myanmar. Average monthly wages for men were found to be higher than that for women in all 12 countries, although the intra-regional disparity was widely heterogeneous.
The gap was recorded highest in Pakistan at 66.5 per cent followed by India at 36.3 per cent and Sri Lanka at 30.3 per cent. Bangladesh had the lowest gender pay gap at 1.1 per cent. In Indonesia and Vietnam, the male-female differential in wages was less than 10 per cent.
The research also studied average nominal monthly wages in developing Asia according to the latest available year. While wages in developing Asia’s garment and footwear industry have increased in recent years, they continue to remain low overall. The average earnings were estimated at less than US$200 per month in eight of the 12 countries.
Bangladesh stood at 5th position based on the estimates of Bangladesh Labour Force Survey in 2013. China and Thailand had the highest nominal monthly wages: $582 and $267, respectively. Nominal average wages were only about $100 a month in Cambodia, Lao People’s Democratic Republic and Myanmar at the time of the most recent labour force surveys.
The research was conducted based on the data of the most recent labour force surveys, and therefore these estimates do not reflect recent changes in minimum wage legislation.
