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The Economy of Bangladesh

Bangladeshi Economy

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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.

GDP:

GDP - real growth rate: 4.9% (2008 est.) 6.2% (2007 est.) 6.4% (2006 est.)

GDP - per capita:

GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 19.1% industry: 28.6% services: 52.3% (2008 est.)

Population below poverty line:

Household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%: 3.7% highest 10%: 27.9% (2000)

Distribution of family income - Gini index: 33.2 (2005)

Inflation rate (consumer prices):

Labor force: 70.86 million 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.)

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

Unemployment rate: 2.5% (includes underemployment) (2008 est.)

Budget: revenues: $8.831 billion expenditures: $12.54 billion (2008 est.)

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

Industrial production growth rate: 6.9% (2008 est.)

Electricity - production: 22.78 billion kWh (2007 est.)

Electricity - production by source:

Electricity - consumption: 21.37 billion kWh (2006 est.)

Electricity - exports: 0 kWh (2007 est.)

Electricity - imports: 0 kWh (2007 est.)

Oil - production: 6,746 bbl/day (2007 est.)

Oil - consumption: 89,940 bbl/day (2006 est.)

Oil - exports: 1,351 bbl/day (2005)

Oil - imports: 83,220 bbl/day (2005)

Oil - proved reserves: 28 million bbl (1 January 2008 est.)

Natural gas - production: 15.7 billion cu m (2007 est.)

Natural gas - consumption: 15.7 billion cu m (2007 est.)

Natural gas - exports: 0 cu m (2007 est.)

Natural gas - imports: 0 cu m (2007 est.)

Natural gas - proved reserves: 141.6 billion cu m (1 January 2008 est.)

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

Exports: $13.97 billion (2008 est.)

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

Exports - partners: US 23%, Germany 13%, UK 9.1%, France 5.5%, Belgium 4% (2007)

Imports: $20.17 billion (2008 est.)

Imports - commodities: machinery and equipment, chemicals, iron and steel, textiles, foodstuffs, petroleum products, cement

Imports - partners: China 15%, India 14.3%, Kuwait 8.3%, Singapore 6.2%, Hong Kong 4.2% (2007)

Debt - external: $21.72 billion (31 December 2008 est.)

Economic aid - recipient:

Currency:

Currency code:

Exchange rates: taka (BDT) per US dollar - 68.554 (2008 est.), 69.893 (2007), 69.031 (2006), 64.328 (2005), 59.513 (2004)

Fiscal year: