Bangladesh: General Statistics

BRAC Development Institute

Economy
Real GDP grew at 6.7% in Fiscal Year 2011

Imports increased by 32% (FY11)

High inflation continues: 12% in 2011

45% of the population is involved in agriculture,

followed by industry (30%)

Laborer’s remittances from work abroad: $10.9 billion 

Education
98% of girls now attend primary school

Over 90% of children attend primary schools

Proportions of students starting grad 1 and reaching

grade 5 has increased by 64% (currently at 79%).

Female literacy rate (77%) is higher than that of men

(74%)
 Gender
Ranked 112 out of 146 countries in the Gender Inequality Index
(0.550 in 2011)

Less than 10% of all women are named as owners of marital property

Share of women in employment in non-agricultural sector: 24.6%

(compared to 19.1 in 1991)

30% of adult women are chronically malnourished

Proportion of mothers with no education has halved since 2001, and

the proportion with secondary schooling as doubled.
 Health
Life expectancy at birth increased by 13.7 years since 1980

Probability of death under 5 years of age: 52/1000 births (compared to

84 in 2001)

80% of the population use improved drinking water

53% of the population use improved sanitation facilities

95% of 1-year-old children are immunized with TB, polio, Hepatitis B,

measles, and tetanus vaccines.

HIV prevalence: less than 1% of adults

Poverty
Poverty rate has decreased from 40% to 31.5%
between 2005 and 2010

38 million or 25% of Bangladeshis live in urban areas.

32 million of them (84%) live in slums and only 51%
have access to adequate sanitation facilities.

49% of the population live with less than $1.25/day

Environment
Arsenic in water sources found in 61 districts

Energy use has decreased: 1,803 kg of oil per capita

Amount of forest coverage decreased, from 15.6% in

1973 to less than 7% today

Rainfall in recent years is 25% less than the usual

averages.