Exports of textiles and garments are the principal source of foreign exchange earnings.

Agriculture for domestic consumption is Bangladesh’s largest employment sector.

By 2002 exports of textiles, embroidery digitizing clothing, and ready-made garments (RMG) accounted for 77% of Bangladesh’s total merchandise exports. 

By 2013, about 4 million people, mostly women, worked in Bangladesh's $19 billion-a-year industry, export-oriented ready-made garment (RMG) industry.

Bangladesh is second only to China, the world's second-largest apparel exporter of western brands.

Sixty percent of the export contracts of western brands are with European buyers and about forty percent with American buyers. 

Only 5% of digitizing textile factories are owned by foreign investors, with most of the production being controlled by local investors.

A Bettsometer is a fabric degradation tester commonly used to measure or test the integrity of fabric coverings (and associated stitching) on aircraft and their wings.

The Bettsometer comprises a pen-like instrument (which functions much like a spring balance) and a smooth roundneedle or pin.

The needle is inserted into the fabric and then the instrument is pulled to exert a specificforce on the fabric in order to test. 

A visual inspection is made to check for any rips or tears at the needle insertion point.

The Bettsometer test is often a requirement for the annual 'permit' renewal and is usually carried out by an aircraft inspector who will know the requirements of the test (i.e. the areas of sail and stitching to be tested and the force to be exerted).

Textile fibres can be created from many natural sources (animal hair or fur, insect cocoons as with silk worm cocoons), as well as semisynthetic methods that use naturally-occurring polymers, and synthetic methods that use polymer-based materials, and even minerals such as metals to make foils and wires.

The textile industry requires that fibre content be provided on content labels.

These labels are used to test textiles under different conditions to meet safety standards (for example, for flame-resistance), and to determine whether or not a textile is machine washable or must be dry-cleaned.

Common textile fibres used in global fashion today include