Economy - overview Despite sustained domestic and international efforts to improve economic and demographic prospects, Bangladesh remains a poor, overpopulated, and ill-governed nation. Although more than half of GDP is generated through the service sector, nearly two-thirds of Bangladeshis are employed in the agriculture sector, with rice as the single most important product. Major impediments to growth include frequent cyclones and floods, inefficient state-owned enterprises, inadequate port facilities, a rapidly growing labor force that cannot be absorbed by agriculture, delays in exploiting energy resources (natural gas), insufficient power supplies, and slow implementation of economic reforms. Economic reform is stalled in many instances by political infighting and corruption at all levels of government. Progress also has been blocked by opposition from the bureaucracy, public sector unions, and other vested interest groups. The newly-elected BNP government, led by Prime Minister Khaleda ZIA, has the parliamentary strength to push through needed reforms, but the party's level of political will to do so remains undetermined.

GDP purchasing power parity - $230 billion (2001 est.)

GDP - real growth rate 5.6% (2001 est.)

GDP - per capita purchasing power parity - $1,750 (2001 est.)

GDP - composition by sector
agriculture: 30%
industry: 18%
services: 52% (2000 est.)

Population below poverty line 35.6% (FY95/96 est.)

Household income or consumption by percentage share
lowest 10%: 3.9%
highest 10%: 28.6% (1995-96 est.)

Distribution of family income - Gini index 33.6 (1995-96)

Inflation rate (consumer prices) 5.8% (2000 est.)

Labor force 64.1 million (1998)
note: extensive export of labor to Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, UAE, Oman, Qatar, and Malaysia; workers' remittances estimated at $1.71 billion in 1998-99

Labor force - by occupation agriculture 63%, services 26%, industry 11% (FY95/96)

Unemployment rate 35% (2001 est.)

Budget
revenues: $4.9 billion
expenditures: $6.8 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (FY99/00 est.)

Industries cotton textiles, jute, garments, tea processing, paper newsprint, cement, chemical fertilizer, light engineering, sugar

Industrial production growth rate 6.2% (2001 est.)

Electricity - production 13.493 billion kWh (2000)

Electricity - production by source
fossil fuel: 92.45%
hydro: 7.55%
other: 0% (2000)
nuclear: 0%

Electricity - consumption 12.548 billion kWh (2000)

Electricity - exports 0 kWh (2000)

Electricity - imports 0 kWh (2000)

Agriculture - products rice, jute, tea, wheat, sugarcane, potatoes, tobacco, pulses, oilseeds, spices, fruit; beef, milk, poultry

Exports $6.6 billion (2001)

Exports - commodities garments, jute and jute goods, leather, frozen fish and seafood

Exports - partners US 31.8%, Germany 10.9%, UK 7.9%, France 5.2%, Netherlands 5.2%, Italy 4.42% (2000)

Imports $8.7 billion (2001)

Imports - commodities machinery and equipment, chemicals, iron and steel, textiles, raw cotton, food, crude oil and petroleum products, cement

Imports - partners India 10.5%, EU 9.5%, Japan 9.5%, Singapore 8.5%, China 7.4% (2000)

Debt - external $17 billion (2000)

Economic aid - recipient $1.575 billion (2000 est.)

Currency taka (BDT)

Currency code BDT

Exchange rates taka per US dollar - 57.756 (January 2002), 55.807 (2001), 52.142 (2000), 49.085 (1999), 46.906 (1998), 43.892 (1997)

Fiscal year 1 July - 30 June

NOTE: The information regarding Bangladesh on this page is re-published from the 2002 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Bangladesh Economy 2002 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Bangladesh Economy 2002 should be addressed to the CIA.