Over 20% of Bangladesh Garment Factories Declare Three-Day Break Amid Gas Crisis

Dhaka, August 5, 2026 — More than 20 percent of Bangladesh's garment factories have declared a three-day break, sparking a rush of workers heading home to their villages — a phenomenon driven by both the August 5 public holiday and the ongoing gas crisis that has made production increasingly difficult for many factories.

With 5 August a public holiday and Friday the weekly holiday, many factories declared Thursday an additional day off. Workers will make up the lost hours before or after the break, a practice that has become common in the garment sector. The highest number of factories granting extended leave are located in and around Dhaka, Gazipur, Mymensingh, Savar, Narayanganj, and Manikganj — the industrial belts that house the majority of Bangladesh's garment manufacturing capacity.

📊 Factory Breakdown

According to the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) and the Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA), the country has around 3,000 export-oriented garment factories. With more than 20 percent declaring the three-day break, that translates to approximately 600+ factories extending the holiday.

• 👥 Total export-oriented factories: ~3,000
• 📊 Factories on three-day break: 20%+ (~600+)
• 📍 Affected areas: Dhaka, Gazipur, Mymensingh, Savar, Narayanganj, Manikganj
• 📅 Holiday structure: Thursday (bridge) + Friday (weekly) + August 5 (public holiday)

💬 BGMEA Senior VP: Bridge Holidays Common

Inamul Haq Khan, managing director of Ananta Garments and senior vice-president of BGMEA, told The Business Standard that his factory declared a three-day holiday by adding a bridge holiday to the two official holidays. "We use alternative energy, so the gas shortage does not affect our operations. The extra day off allows workers to visit their villages, and they have already made up the lost working hours," he said.

Inamul said bridge holidays have become common in recent years and are beneficial for industrial relations. He added that some factories also opted for extended closures because of gas shortages and reduced work orders — acknowledging that while the official reason for the break is the public holiday, the gas crisis is a contributing factor for some factories that would struggle to maintain production anyway.

📋 Strategic Context

The mass factory closures — even if temporary — highlight the dual pressures facing Bangladesh's garment sector: the gas crisis that makes production difficult, and the need to maintain worker welfare through reasonable holiday arrangements. The fact that more than 20 percent of factories chose to extend the holiday suggests that many factories see little point in operating at reduced capacity when gas supply is unreliable. For the workers, the three-day break provides a rare opportunity to visit family in rural areas — but the extended absence also means lost wages for daily-wage workers, and the promise of "making up lost hours" may be difficult to fulfill if gas supply remains constrained after the holiday.

The BGMEA senior VP's comment that his factory uses "alternative energy" and is therefore unaffected by the gas shortage is notable — it suggests that factories that have invested in alternative energy sources (such as captive power plants or rooftop solar) are better positioned to maintain production during the gas crisis. This dynamic may accelerate investment in energy self-sufficiency within the garment sector, as factories that can operate independently of the gas grid gain a competitive advantage over those that cannot. The three-day break, while primarily a holiday arrangement, also serves as an informal indicator of the sector's operational health — and the 20 percent participation rate suggests that a significant portion of the industry is operating under conditions where a temporary shutdown is more economically rational than continued operation at reduced capacity.

The mass factory closures — even if temporary — highlight the dual pressures facing Bangladesh's garment sector: the gas crisis that makes production difficult, and the need to maintain worker welfare through reasonable holiday arrangements. The fact that more than 20 percent of factories chose to extend the holiday suggests that many see little point in operating at reduced capacity when gas supply is unreliable. For workers, the three-day break provides a rare opportunity to visit family — but the extended absence also means potential lost wages. The BGMEA Senior VP's comment that his factory uses "alternative energy" and is unaffected by the gas shortage is notable — it suggests that factories investing in energy self-sufficiency gain a competitive advantage. This dynamic may accelerate investment in rooftop solar and captive power, as factories that can operate independently of the gas grid maintain production while others shut down.

The three-day break phenomenon also intersects with the broader pattern of factory closures documented across the sector. The Industrial Police reported 158 permanent factory closures in Gazipur between May 2025 and April 2026, and the BPGMEA reported plastic factories operating at just 30 percent capacity. The temporary closures for the holiday period may provide a brief respite for factory owners who are struggling with the economics of operating at severely reduced capacity — but they also mean lost production days that cannot be recovered in an environment where delivery schedules are already under pressure from the gas crisis. The BGMEA's data showing that around 3,000 export-oriented factories exist nationwide means that the 20+ percent on break translates to approximately 600+ factories extending the holiday. The workers who rush home during these breaks are the same workers who are most vulnerable to the sector's economic pressures — earning monthly salaries that are already stretched thin by 9.16 percent inflation. The bridge holiday practice, while beneficial for industrial relations, also serves as an informal barometer of the sector's operational health: when more factories choose to extend holidays, it suggests that the economic rationale for continued operation at reduced capacity is weakening.