Economy Overview
The economy has grown 5-6% per year since 1996 despite inefficient state-owned enterprises, delays in exploiting natural gas resources, insufficient power supplies, and slow implementation of economic reforms. Bangladesh remains a poor, overpopulated, and inefficiently-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. Garment exports and remittances from Bangladeshis working overseas, mainly in the Middle East and East Asia, fuel economic growth. In 2008 Bangladesh pursued a monetary policy aimed at maintaining high employment, but created higher inflation in the process.
Agriculture Products
rice, jute, tea, wheat, sugarcane, potatoes, tobacco, pulses, oilseeds, spices, fruit; beef, milk, poultry
Industries
cotton textiles, jute, garments, tea processing, paper newsprint, cement, chemical fertilizer, light engineering, sugar
Industrial Production Growth Rate
6.9% (2008 est.)country comparison to the world: 31
Labor Force
70.86 millioncountry comparison to the world: 8 note: extensive export of labor to Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, UAE, Oman, Qatar, and Malaysia; workers' remittances estimated at $4.8 billion in 2005-06. (2008 est.)
Electricity production
22.99 billion kWh (2007 est.)country comparison to the world: 68
Electricity Consumption
21.38 billion kWh (2007 est.)country comparison to the world: 66
Electricity Exports
0 kWh (2008 est.)
Electricity Imports
0 kWh (2008 est.)
Unemployment Rate
2.5% (2008 est.)country comparison to the world: 27 2.5% (2007 est.)
Population Below Poverty Line
45% (2004 est.)
Household Income or Consumption by Percentage Share
Lowest 10%: 4.3%
Highest 10%: 26.6% (2005)
Distribution of Family Income Gini Index
33.2 (2005)country comparison to the world: 94 33.6 (1996)
Budget
Revenues: $8.825 billion
Expenditures: $12.54 billion (2008 est.)
Public Debt
39.4% of GDP (2008 est.)country comparison to the world: 57 43% of GDP (2004 est.)
Central Bank Discount Rate
5% (31 December 2008)country comparison to the world: 99 5% (31 December 2007)
Commercial Bank Prime Lending Rate
Stock of Domestic Credit
$47.03 billion (31 December 2008)country comparison to the world: 50 $40.1 billion (31 December 2007)
Market Value of Publicly Traded Shares
$6.671 billion (31 December 2008)country comparison to the world: 78 $6.793 billion (31 December 2007)$3.61 billion (31 December 2006)
Reserves of Foreign Exchange and Gold
$5.789 billion (31 December 2008 est.)country comparison to the world: 80 $5.278 billion (31 December 2007 est.)
Debt External
$22.83 billion (31 December 2008 est.)country comparison to the world: 69 $21.23 billion (31 December 2007 est.)
Stock of Direct Foreign Investment at Home
$5.971 billion (31 December 2008 est.)country comparison to the world: 88 $5.261 billion (31 December 2007 est.)
Stock of Direct Foreign Investment Abroad
$97 million (31 December 2008 est.)country comparison to the world: 79
Exchange Rates
taka (BDT) per US dollar - 68.554 (2008 est.), 69.893 (2007), 69.031 (2006), 64.328 (2005), 59.513 (2004)
