Bangladesh Economy - 2004

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. One encouraging note: growth has been a steady 5% for the past several years.

GDP:
purchasing power parity - $258.8 billion (2003 est.)

GDP - real growth rate:
5.3% (2003 est.)

GDP - per capita:
purchasing power parity - $1,900 (2003 est.)

GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 24%
industry: 26.7%
services: 49.3% (2002 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 (FY95/96)

Inflation rate (consumer prices):
5.3% (2003 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% (FY95/96)

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:
4% (2003 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

Oil - imports:
NA

Oil - proved reserves:
28.45 million bbl (1 January 2002)

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 (1 January 2002)

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

Exports:
$6.713 billion (2003 est.)

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:
$9.459 billion (2003 est.)

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:
$17.4 billion (2003)

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

Currency:
taka (BDT)

Currency code:
BDT

Exchange rates:
taka per US dollar - 58.15 (2003), 57.89 (2002), 55.81 (2001), 52.14 (2000), 49.09 (1999)