Global Development Issues

Assignment 1: diagnosis
1000 words

Amelie De Angelis #592783

Tutor: Ryan Ensign
Group 63

Rotterdam, 19 Feb 2023

The following variables were selected to showcase Bangladesh’s growth in the last 15 years,
with a focus wide enough to encompass some of the economic, social, and political
developments which influence the country.

GDP and GDP per capita

While development involves a lot more than economic growth (Szrimai, 2015, p14), it
is nonetheless crucial to analyze economic indicators to gain a clear overview of the
country’s financial performance. The following table (Table 1) represents Bangladesh’s GDP
and GDP per capita growth from 2007 to 20201. These variables have been selected to
exhibit the general economic trajectory of Bangladesh, GDP is important because it gives
information about the size of Bangladesh’s economy and how it is performing, GDP growth
rates are often used to evaluate countries’ economic power, perceiving GDP growth as an
indicator of good economic performance (Callen & International Monetary Fund, 2017).
Similarly, GDP per capita represent the average wealth of each citizen, thus it is equally
important in understanding the way Bangladesh’s economy is developing throughout the
years.

Bangladesh GDP (constant 2015 US$) GDP per capita (constant 2015 US$)
2007 122,123,840,982.6 847.3
2008 129,468,112,025.0 890.3
2009 135,999,939,844.6 927.0
2010 143,577,568,429.3 967.6
2011 152,858,966,788.0 1,017.6
2012 162,827,601,299.5 1,070.6
2013 172,619,411,144.7 1,120.7
2014 183,081,976,119.2 1,173.9
2015 195,078,678,697.2 1,236.0
2016 2,089,555,58,005.1 1,307.7
2017 222,726,251,662.2 1,376.6
2018 239,028,505,057.0 1,460.3
2019 257,868,529,012.7 1,558.0
2020 266,759,891,218.3 1,593.3
2021 285,269,493,338.0 1,684.4
(Table 1)

The found data (Table 1) shows that Bangladesh’s GDP and GDP per capita have been
steadily increasing over the past 15 years. Nonetheless, GDP only relates to one side of
development: the economic one. To gain a wider understanding of Bangladesh’s overall
development the focus must be extended to also include indicators of social and political
growth.
Infant Mortality Rate

Among the selected social indicators is infant mortality rate. Infant mortality rate is an
important marker of the overall health of a society: it provides information about maternal
and infant health (CDC, 2022) and it is particularly sensitive to general structural factors, like
socio-economic development and basic living conditions (Sartorius, 2014). Infant mortality
can be attributed to several factors, such as disease, water accessibility, sanitation as well as
low economic status and poor education, which mediate less access to health care and
promote high risk behavior (Sartorius, 2014).
Bangladesh
(BDG) Mortality rate, infant (per 1,000 live births)
2007 44.8
2008 42.7
2009 40.7
2010 38.9
2011 37.2
2012 35.6
2013 34
2014 32.5
2015 31
2016 29.6
2017 28.2
2018 26.8
2019 25.5
2020 24.3
(Table 2)

This data (Table 2) reveals a slow but steady decrease in the IMR in Bangladesh in the last 15
years. From 2007 to 2020, the IMR decreased almost by one half of where it stood in 2007,
pointing to improvements in healthcare, education, and lower levels of environmental
pollution, including access to clean water sources.

Poverty Headcount

The poverty headcount index is significant as it represents the ratio of the population
that is earning (or consuming) an amount below the established poverty line. This indicator
allows us to see how big the population of the poor is in proportion to Bangladesh’s entire
population (Nogami, 2020).

(Graph 1)

Graph 1 plots the Poverty Headcount Rate in Bangladesh between 2000 and 2016,
showcasing its continual decline over the years. From being one of the poorest nations in
1971, Bangladesh gained lower-middle income status in 2015. The country is now on the
path to graduation from the UN’s Least Developed Countries (LDC) list, hoping to achieve
this in 2026. Poverty declined from 43.5% in 1991 to 14.3% in 2016, based on the
international poverty line of $1.90 a day (using 2011 PPP exchange rate).

Education

Another social indicator that was selected for this analysis is educational attainment.
The World Bank provides data regarding educational attainment in Bangladesh, among the
multiple indicators, only four were selected: attainment of a bachelor’s degree or equivalent,
completion of lower secondary education, completion of post-secondary education and
completion of primary education. These are regarded as an important indicators of
development as higher levels of education are associated with higher levels of employment,
better access to healthcare, higher earnings, and poverty reduction (World Bank, 2022).
Education is an important societal driver for long-term economic growth, it spurs innovation,
 Educational
attainment, at Educational Educational Educational
least attainment, at attainment, at attainment, at
Bangladesh Bachelor's or least completed least completed least completed
(BGD) equivalent lower secondary post-secondary primary
2007, 2008,
2009 No data No data No data No data
2011 5.7 35.3 10.2 48.9
2012 5.9 36.0 10.5 49.9
2013 5.5 33.7 9.4 47.6
2014 5.9 34.9 10.3 48.8
2015 8.2 40.8 14.0 54.7
2016 8.5 41.5 14.3 56.3
2017 9.0 42.6 14.9 57.4
2018 9.4 43.6 15.6 58.4
2019 9.8 44.7 16.2 61.1
2020 14.1 54.5 22.4 62.9
strengthens institutions, and fosters social cohesion. Globally, every extra year of education is
associated with a rise of 9% in hourly earnings (World Bank, 2022).
(Table 3)

The data provided by the World Bank about educational attainment in Bangladesh between
2007 and 2021 (Table 3) provides an overview of how educational levels within the country
have been gradually increasing. While the percentage of people who have completed their
primary education only increased by 14%, more significant changes can be observed in
people who obtained lower secondary level degrees, which increased by 19.2%. Lastly, the
percentages of people who obtained post-secondary and bachelor’s level education increased
respectively by 12.2% and 8.4%.

Child labor

Historically, policy attention towards child labor has focused on it as a human rights
issue, as it interferes with education and health and has been associated with negative mental
and physical consequences in adulthood. Nonetheless, child employment also impacts local
labor markets: as more workers become available, competition decreases, and the wages of
the unskilled jobs drop. This creates a cycle of poverty: child labor leads to low wages, which
in turn lead to the need for more child labor. Low unskilled labor wages further impact
economic growth, as an abundance of unskilled labor discourages economic development and
the adoption of skill intensive technologies (Edmonds, 2016).
 (Table 4)

Political Stability

The index of political stability and absence of Violence and Terrorism measures citizens’
perceptions of the probability that the government will be threatened or overthrown by
unlawful or forceful means. The index is an average of several other indexes from the
Economist Intelligence Unit, the World Economic Forum, and the Political Risk Services,
among others.

(Graph 2)

Graph 2 plots the perceived political stability of the Bangladeshi government’s stability from
1996 until 2021: as one can observe, this index varies significantly across the years, jumping
from high to low to high again, culminating with a steadily declining parabola in the most
recent years. The average value for Bangladesh during this period was -1.19 (with a
minimum of -1.86 points in 2005 and a maximum of -0.37 points in 1998). For comparison,
the world average in 2021 was -0.07 points, thus placing Bangladesh among the relatively
lower scoring countries.
 CONCLUSION
This analysis allows us to observe that Bangladesh has a strong record of growth and
development, even in times of elevated global uncertainty. Nevertheless, the country still
faces significant development challenges: As has been stated, education is a key indicator of
development. The current literacy rate in Bangladesh is about 62% and improving, however
there is a shortage of skilled manpower, which leads to the cycle of poverty that was
mentioned when analyzing child employment indicators. Furthermore, due to a lack of
availability of skilled labor, infrastructure and political instability, foreign global governance
actors feel disinterested in investing in Bangladesh. Low rates of foreign direct investment
pose significant challenges to the growth of developing countries. Lastly, political instability
poses a substantial obstacle to proper development, as it affects social peace and discipline, as
well as production, investment, and overall economic development.
 BIBLIOGRAPHY
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