Economy in Bangladesh

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 - $275.7 billion (2004 est.)
GDP - real growth rate: 4.9% (2004 est.)
GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $2,000 (2004 est.)
GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 21.2%
industry: 27.1%
services: 51.7% (2004 est.)

Labor force:65.49 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 (2004 est.)
Labor force - by occupation: agriculture 63%, industry 11%, services 26% (FY95/96)
Unemployment rate: 40% (includes underemployment) (2004 est.)
Population below poverty line: 45% (2004 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): 6% (2004 est.)
Investment (gross fixed): 23.5% of GDP (2004 est.)
Budget:
revenues: $5.921 billion
expenditures: $8.262 billion, including capital expenditures of NA (2004 est.)
Public debt: 43% of GDP (2004 est.)

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: 6.5% (2004 est.)

Electricity - production: 16.45 billion kWh (2002)
Electricity - consumption: 15.3 billion kWh (2002)
Electricity - exports: 0 kWh (2002)
Electricity - imports: 0 kWh (2002)

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)

Current account balance: $216.6 million (2004 est.)

Exports: $7.478 billion (2004 est.)
Exports - commodities: garments, jute and jute goods, leather, frozen fish and seafood (2001)
Exports - partners: US 22.7%, Germany 14.5%, UK 10.8%, France 6.7% (2004)

Imports: $10.03 billion (2004 est.)
Imports - commodities: machinery and equipment, chemicals, iron and steel, textiles, foodstuffs, petroleum products, cement (2000)
Imports - partners: India 14.6%, China 11.7%, Singapore 7.8%, Japan 5.8%, Hong Kong 4.8% (2004)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold: $3 billion (2004 est.)
Debt - external: $19.97 billion (2004 est.)
Economic aid - recipient: $1.575 billion (2000 est.)

Currency (code): taka (BDT)
Exchange rates: taka per US dollar - 59.513 (2004), 58.15 (2003), 57.888 (2002), 55.807 (2001), 52.142 (2000)

Fiscal year: 1 July - 30 June