
Bangladesh Economy
Bangladesh Economy: A summary of information about Bangladesh Economy, from government research data as well as independent research and other sources.
Bangladesh: Economy
Economy - overview
Despite sustained domestic and international efforts to improve economic and demographic prospects, Bangladesh remains one of the world's poorest, most densely populated, and least developed nations. The economy is largely agricultural, with the cultivation of rice the single most important activity in the economy. Major impediments to growth include frequent cyclones and floods, the inefficiency of state-owned enterprises, a rapidly growing labor force that cannot be absorbed by agriculture, delays in exploiting energy resources (natural gas), inadequate power supplies, and slow implementation of economic reforms. Prime Minister Sheikh HASINA Wajed's Awami League government has made some headway improving the climate for foreign investors and liberalizing the capital markets; for example, it has negotiated with foreign firms for oil and gas exploration, better countrywide distribution of cooking gas, and the construction of natural gas pipelines and power plants. Progress on other economic reforms has been halting because of opposition from the bureaucracy, public sector unions, and other vested interest groups. The especially severe floods of 1998 increased the country's reliance on large-scale international aid. So far the East Asian financial crisis has not had major impact on the economy.
GDP
purchasing power parity - $187 billion (1999 est.)
GDP - real growth rate
5.2% (1999 est.)
GDP - per capita
purchasing power parity - $1,470 (1999 est.)
GDP - composition by sector
agriculture: 30% industry: 17% services: 53% (1999 est.)
Population below poverty line
35.6% (FY95/96 est.)
Household income or consumption by percentage share
lowest 10%: 4.1% highest 10%: 23.7% (1992)
Inflation rate (consumer prices)
9% (FY98/99 est.)
Labor force
56 million (1995-96) note: extensive export of labor to Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, UAE, Oman, Qatar, Malaysia, and Singapore
Labor force - by occupation
agriculture 63%, services 26%, industry 11% (FY95/96)
Unemployment rate
35.2% (1996)
Budget
revenues: $4.3 billion expenditures: $6.5 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (1997)
Industries
cotton textiles, jute, garments, tea processing, paper newsprint, cement, chemical fertilizer, light engineering, sugar
Industrial production growth rate
2.5% (1997 est.)
Electricity - production
12.5 billion kWh (1999 est.)
Electricity - production by source
fossil fuel: 98% hydro: 2% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (1999)
Electricity - consumption
11.039 billion kWh (1998)
Electricity - exports
0 kWh (1999)
Electricity - imports
0 kWh (1999)
Agriculture - products
rice, jute, tea, wheat, sugarcane, potatoes; beef, milk, poultry, tobacco, pulses, oilseeds, spices, fruit
Exports
$5.1 billion (1998)
Exports - commodities
garments, jute and jute goods, leather, frozen fish and seafood
Exports - partners
US 33%, Germany 10%, UK 9%, France 6%, Italy 5% (1997)
Imports
$8.01 billion (1998)
Imports - commodities
machinery and equipment, chemicals, iron and steel, textiles, raw cotton, food, crude oil and petroleum products, cement
Imports - partners
India 12%, China 9%, Japan 7%, Hong Kong 6%, South Korea 6% (1997)
Debt - external
$16.5 billion (1998)
Economic aid - recipient
$1.475 billion (FY96/97)
Currency
1 taka (Tk) = 100 poisha
Exchange rates
taka (Tk) per US$1 - 51.000 (January 2000), 49.085 (1999), 46.906 (1998), 43.892 (1997), 41.794 (1996), 40.278 (1995)
Fiscal year
1 July - 30 June