| Economy - overview | Bangladesh's economy has grown roughly 6% per year since 2005 despite prolonged periods of political instability, poor infrastructure, endemic corruption, insufficient power supplies, and slow implementation of economic reforms. Although more than half of GDP is generated through the services sector, almost half of Bangladeshis are employed in the agriculture sector, with rice as the single-most-important product.
Garments, the backbone of Bangladesh's industrial sector, accounted for more than 80% of total exports in FY 2016-17. The industrial sector continues to grow, despite the need for improvements in factory safety conditions. Steady export growth in the garment sector, combined with $13 billion in remittances from overseas Bangladeshis, contributed to Bangladesh's rising foreign exchange reserves in FY 2016-17. Recent improvements to energy infrastructure, including the start of liquefied natural gas imports in 2018, represent a major step forward in resolving a key growth bottleneck. |
| GDP (purchasing power parity) | $775.076 billion (2019 est.) $716.65 billion (2018 est.) $664.403 billion (2017 est.) note: data are in 2010 dollars |
| GDP (official exchange rate) | $329.545 billion (2020 est.) |
| GDP - real growth rate | 7.4% (2017 est.) 7.2% (2016 est.) 6.8% (2015 est.) |
| GDP - per capita (PPP) | $4,754 (2019 est.) $4,441 (2018 est.) $4,161 (2017 est.) note: data are in 2010 dollars |
| Gross national saving | 35.7% of GDP (2019 est.) 33.3% of GDP (2018 est.) 35.2% of GDP (2017 est.) |
| GDP - composition, by end use | household consumption: 68.7% (2017 est.) government consumption: 6% (2017 est.) investment in fixed capital: 30.5% (2017 est.) investment in inventories: 1% (2017 est.) exports of goods and services: 15% (2017 est.) imports of goods and services: -20.3% (2017 est.) |
| GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: 14.2% (2017 est.) industry: 29.3% (2017 est.) services: 56.5% (2017 est.) |
| Ease of Doing Business Index scores | Overall score: 45 (2020) Starting a Business score: 82.4 (2020) Trading score: 31.8 (2020) Enforcement score: 22.2 (2020) |
| Population below poverty line | 24.3% (2016 est.) |
| Labor force | 66.64 million (2017 est.) note: extensive migration of labor to Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, UAE, Oman, Qatar, and Malaysia |
| Labor force - by occupation | agriculture: 42.7% industry: 20.5% services: 36.9% (2016 est.) |
| Unemployment rate | 4.4% (2017 est.) 4.4% (2016 est.) note: about 40% of the population is underemployed; many persons counted as employed work only a few hours a week and at low wages |
| Unemployment, youth ages 15-24 | total: 12.8% male: 10.8% female: 16.8% (2017 est.) |
| Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%: 4% highest 10%: 27% (2010 est.) |
| Distribution of family income - Gini index | 32.4 (2016 est.) 33.2 (2005) |
| Budget | revenues: 25.1 billion (2017 est.) expenditures: 33.5 billion (2017 est.) |
| Taxes and other revenues | 9.6% (of GDP) (2017 est.) |
| Budget surplus (+) or deficit (-) | -3.2% (of GDP) (2017 est.) |
| Public debt | 33.1% of GDP (2017 est.) 33.3% of GDP (2016 est.) |
| Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 5.5% (2019 est.) 5.5% (2018 est.) 5.6% (2017 est.) |
| Credit ratings | Fitch rating: BB- (2014) Moody's rating: Ba3 (2012) Standard & Poors rating: BB- (2010) |
| Agriculture - products | rice, potatoes, maize, sugar cane, milk, vegetables, onions, jute, mangoes/guavas, wheat |
| Industries | jute, cotton, garments, paper, leather, fertilizer, iron and steel, cement, petroleum products, tobacco, pharmaceuticals, ceramics, tea, salt, sugar, edible oils, soap and detergent, fabricated metal products, electricity, natural gas |
| Industrial production growth rate | 10.2% (2017 est.) |
| Current Account Balance | -$5.322 billion (2017 est.) $1.391 billion (2016 est.) |
| Exports | $33.057 billion (2019 est.) $29.798 billion (2018 est.) $27.568 billion (2017 est.) |
| Exports - commodities | clothing, knitwear, leather footwear (2019) |
| Exports - partners | United States 15%, Germany 14%, United Kingdom 8%, Spain 7%, France 7% (2019) |
| Imports | $44.801 billion (2019 est.) $45.725 billion (2018 est.) $36.001 billion (2017 est.) |
| Imports - commodities | refined petroleum, cotton, natural gas, scrap iron, wheat (2019) |
| Imports - partners | China 31%, India 15%, Singapore 5% (2019) |
| Reserves of foreign exchange and gold | $33.42 billion (31 December 2017 est.) $32.28 billion (31 December 2016 est.) |
| Debt - external | $50.26 billion (31 December 2017 est.) $41.85 billion (31 December 2016 est.) |
| Exchange rates | taka (BDT) per US dollar - 84.75 (2020 est.) 85 (2019 est.) 83.715 (2018 est.) 77.947 (2014 est.) 77.614 (2013 est.) |
| Fiscal year | 1 July - 30 June |
Source: CIA World Factbook
This page was last updated on September 18, 2021
