Bangladesh economy’s surprising progress in 50 years

Bangladesh’s socio economic development over the past 50 years has been surprising despite problems of alleged corruption, poor intuitional capacity and natural disasters.

Dismissed as a basket case at independence in 1971, Bangladesh has braved stiff hurdles to become self-sufficient in food grains production and made good progress in manufacturing sector too.

This remarkable progress is best illustrated by a chronology of the national budgets since 1972.

In 1972, the budget of Bangladesh was Tk 786 crore while the gross domestic product (GDP) was USD $6.288 billion. As per the GDP, per capita income was $94.4 or Tk566 in 1972 and the population was about 70 million.

In the fiscal year 2021-22 the country’s budget size swelled to Tk 603681 crore ($ 71 billion), the estimated GDP was $465 billion. The population Bangladesh is stood at over 160 million in 2021.

The provisional estimate for per capita income in 2021-22 was $2,824, up from $2,591 in the previous year, accoding to a Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics report. “In nominal terms, Bangladesh's GDP stands at $465 billion in the current fiscal year.

Braving flood, cyclone and drought, the economy has grown steadily since the independence. Bangladesh has achieved remarkable success in food production, manufacturing and manpower export.

Bangladesh is characterized as a developing economy. It is the 41st largest in the world in nominal terms or at current prices, and 30th largest by purchasing power equivalence; international dollars at current prices.

At a glance Bangladesh’s budget:

Fiscal Year – by Whom - Annual Outlay-

1972-'73 Tajuddin Ahmed Tk 786 crore

1973-'74 Tajuddin Ahmed Tk 995 crore

1974-'75 Tajuddin Ahmed Tk 1,084.37 crore

1975-'76 Azizur Rahman Tk 1,549.19 crore

1976-'77 Maj Gen Ziaur Rahman Tk 1,989.87 crore

1977-'78 Lt. Gen. Ziaur Rahman Tk 2,184 crore

1978-'79 President Ziaur Rahman Tk 2,499 crore

1979-'80 MN Huda Tk 3,317 crore

1980-'81 M Saifur Rahman Tk 4,108 crore

1981-'82 M Saifur Rahman Tk 4,677 crore

1982-'83 AMA Muhith Tk 4,738 crore

1983-'84 AMA Muhith Tk 5,896 crore

1984-'85 M Sayeduzzaman Tk 6,699 crore

1985-'86 M Sayeduzzaman Tk 7,138 crore

1986-'87 M Sayeduzzaman Tk 8,504 crore

1987-'88 M Sayeduzzaman Tk 8527 crore

1988-'89 Maj Gen (rtd) Munim Tk 10,565 crore

1989-'90 Wahidul Haq Tk 12,703 crore

1990-'91 Maj Gen (rtd) Munim Tk 12,960 crore

1991-'92 M Saifur Rahman Tk 15,584 crore

1992-'93 M Saifur Rahman Tk 17,607 crore

1993-'94 M Saifur Rahman Tk 19,050 crore

1994-'95 M Saifur Rahman Tk 20,948 crore

1995-'96 M Saifur Rahman Tk 23,170 crore

1996-'97 Shah AMS Kibria Tk 24,603 crore

1997-'98 Shah AMS Kibria Tk 27,786 crore

1998-'99 Shah AMS Kibria Tk 29,537 crore

1999-'00 Shah AMS Kibria Tk 34,252 crore

2000-'01 Shah AMS Kibria Tk 38,524 crore

2001-'02 Shah AMS Kibria Tk 42,306 crore

2002-'03 M Saifur Rahman Tk 44,854 crore

2003-'04 M Saifur Rahman Tk 51,980 crore

2004-'05 M Saifur Rahman Tk 57,248 crore

2005-'06 M Saifur Rahman Tk 61,058 crore

2006-'07 M Saifur Rahman Tk 69,740 crore

2007-'08 AB Mirza Azizul Islam Tk 87,137 crore

2008-'09 AB Mirza Azizul Islam Tk 99,962 crore

2009-'10 AMA Muhith Tk 113,815 crore

2010-'11 AMA Muhith Tk 132,170 crore

2011-'12 AMA Muhith Tk 165,000 crore

2012-’13 AMA Muhith Tk 191,738 crore

2013-’14 AMA Muhith Tk 222,491 crore

2014-’15 AMA Muhith Tk 250,506 crore

2015-’16 AMA Muhith Tk 295,100 crore

2016-’17 AMA Muhith Tk 340,605 crore

2017-18, AMA Muhith Tk 4, 00,266 crore

2018-19, AMA Muhith Tk4, 64,573 crore

2019-20, AHM Mustafa Kamal Tk 5, 23,190 crore

2020-21 AHM Mustafa Kamal Tk 5, 68,000 crore