Economy - overview:
Despite sustained domestic and international efforts to improve
economic and demographic prospects, Bangladesh remains a poor,
overpopulated, and ill-governed nation. Although 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 BNP government, led by Prime Minister Khaleda
ZIA, has the parliamentary strength to push through needed reforms,
but the party's political will to do so has been lacking in key
areas.
GDP:
purchasing power parity - $238.2 billion (2002 est.)
GDP - real growth rate:
4.8% (2002 est.)
GDP - per capita:
purchasing power parity - $1,800 (2002 est.)
GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 35%
industry: 19%
services: 46% (2001 est.)
Population below poverty line:
35.6% (FY 95/96 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 (FY 95/96)
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
3.1% (2002 est.)
Labor force:
64.1 million
note: extensive export of labor to Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, UAE, Oman,
Qatar, and Malaysia; workers' remittances estimated at $1.71 billion
in 1998-99 (1998)
Labor force - by occupation:
agriculture 63%, services 26%, industry 11% (FY 95/96)
Unemployment rate:
40% (includes underemployment) (2002 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:
1.8% (2002 est.)
Electricity - production:
15.33 billion kWh (2001)
Electricity - production by source:
fossil fuel: 93.7%
hydro: 6.3%
other: 0% (2001)
nuclear: 0%
Electricity - consumption:
14.25 billion kWh (2001)
Electricity - exports:
0 kWh (2001)
Electricity - imports:
0 kWh (2001)
Oil - production:
3,581 bbl/day (2001 est.)
Oil - consumption:
71,000 bbl/day (2001 est.)
Oil - exports:
NA (2001)
Oil - imports:
NA (2001)
Oil - proved reserves:
28.45 million bbl (37257)
Natural gas - production:
9.9 billion cu m (2001 est.)
Natural gas - consumption:
9.9 billion cu m (2001 est.)
Natural gas - exports:
0 cu m (2001 est.)
Natural gas - imports:
0 cu m (2001 est.)
Natural gas - proved reserves:
150.3 billion cu m (37257)
Agriculture - products:
rice, jute, tea, wheat, sugarcane, potatoes, tobacco, pulses,
oilseeds, spices, fruit; beef, milk, poultry
Exports:
$6.2 billion (2002)
Exports - commodities:
garments, jute and jute goods, leather, frozen fish and seafood
(2001)
Exports - partners:
US 27.6%, Germany 10.4%, UK 9.8%, France 5.7%, Italy 4% (2002)
Imports:
$8.5 billion (2002)
Imports - commodities:
machinery and equipment, chemicals, iron and steel, textiles,
foodstuffs, petroleum products, cement (2000)
Imports - partners:
India 14.6%, China 11.6%, Singapore 11.5%, Japan 7.6%, Hong Kong
5.4%, South Korea 4.3% (2002)
Debt - external:
$16.5 billion (2002)
Economic aid - recipient:
$1.575 billion (2000 est.)
Currency:
taka (BDT)
Currency code:
BDT
Exchange rates:
taka per US dollar - 57.89 (2002), 55.81 (2001), 52.14 (2000),
49.09 (1999), 46.91 (1998)
Fiscal year:
1 July - 30 June