According to the survey, 27.93 per cent of Bangladesh’s population now lives below the upper poverty line, a sharp rise from 18.7 per cent in 2022. Extreme poverty has also escalated.
Poverty in Bangladesh has surged to alarming levels, with more than one in four citizens now living below the poverty line and inequality at its steepest point in decades, according to a new nationwide survey released by the Power and Participation Research Centre (PPRC) on Monday.
The findings were presented at a dissemination event for the study, “State of the Real Economy: Household Realities and Policy Options Towards Strengthening Economic Democracy”. Commissioned by the finance ministry through a competitive process, the survey covered 8,067 households across all 64 districts of the country.
“This is not just a story of poverty returning but of vulnerabilities multiplying,” said Dr. Hossain Zillur Rahman, Executive Chairman of PPRC and lead author of the study. “Focusing only on macroeconomics is not enough – we need to focus on people’s wellbeing, on ground realities, on equitable allocation.”
Poverty and Inequality Deepen
According to the survey, 27.93 per cent of Bangladesh’s population now lives below the upper poverty line, a sharp rise from 18.7 per cent in 2022. Extreme poverty has also escalated, jumping from 5.6 per cent to 9.35 per cent over the same period.
Rural Bangladesh has borne the brunt of this reversal. Some 31.6 percent of rural households were found to be below the upper poverty line, compared to 19.7 percent in urban areas. The middle class, often seen as an engine of stability and growth, has become increasingly fragile, with families reporting dwindling savings, mounting debt, and difficult trade-offs in spending on education and healthcare.
“The poor are not just poor in income – they are poor in resilience,” Dr. Rahman noted.
The national expenditure Gini coefficient – a widely used measure of inequality – jumped to 0.436 in 2025 from 0.334 in 2022. Inequality is most severe in urban areas, where the Gini index has reached 0.532. “The steep rise in inequality in just three years is deeply concerning and underscores a recovery skewed towards the better-off,” Dr. Rahman warned.
Multiple Vulnerabilities Emerge
The study identifies five interlocking vulnerabilities shaping household struggles. More than half of households (51.3 percent) have at least one member suffering from a chronic illness, and female-headed households remain disproportionately disadvantaged. Debt burdens are mounting: the bottom 40 percent of households carry debt at least twice the size of their savings, indicating growing financial fragility.
Food insecurity has also become acute. Among the poorest households surveyed, 12 percent reported having to skip meals in the previous week, while 9 percent said they went an entire day without food. Progress in sanitation appears to have stalled, with 36 percent of households still relying on non-sanitary toilets.
The report also highlights harassment, or hoirani, as a significant household burden. Nearly half of families reported negative experiences in health services, 42 percent faced harassment in markets, and significant proportions also reported mistreatment in schools, workplaces, and government offices. Although reported bribe payments have declined since August 2024, harassment remains widespread, with police accounting for 39.4 percent of reported bribe recipients.
“A bribe may be Tk 10, but the week lost in delays and hassles costs much more,” the report observed.
Employment: The Central Fault Line
Employment emerged as the key “fault line” behind the distress. Just over half of adults surveyed reported some form of work, but 37.7 percent were underemployed, working fewer than 40 hours a week. Women were disproportionately affected: 65.5 percent of women were underemployed, and female labour force participation remains stuck at 25.5 percent. Nearly half of all workers are self-employed, reflecting both resilience and precarity in the labour market.
Despite widespread hardship, the survey found signs of adaptation and resilience. About 15 percent of households receive remittances averaging Tk 29,762 per month, though this benefit is concentrated among higher-income groups. Smartphone penetration now stands at 74 per cent – rising to 80 per cent among households with youth – and nearly half of households have shifted to cylinder gas use to cope with rising costs.
The domestic consumer market is estimated at US$211 billion, underscoring untapped economic potential even amid mounting distress. “People are coping, but these are fragile adaptations, not substitutes for structural policy action,” Dr. Rahman cautioned.
A Nation Divided by Class
The report also paints a portrait of a nation divided by class one year after the July Uprising. While 62 percent of wealthier households said they were optimistic about the future, only 17.7 percent of the poorest expressed the same sentiment. Overall, however, 54 percent of households described themselves as at least “somewhat optimistic.”
High prices were identified as the top concern for 69.6 percent of respondents, followed by corruption (55.9 percent) and governance failures (52 percent). Across income groups, aspirations converged on education, secure jobs, good health, and a corruption-free society.
Policy Recommendations
To address the crisis, the PPRC recommends several urgent measures. These include an emergency family assistance package for vulnerable households, education continuity grants to prevent school dropouts, expansion of open market sales of essential commodities, and a new safety net for families burdened by chronic illness.
For the medium term, the report calls for participatory policymaking, transparent reform reporting, and the creation of a Household Resilience Task Force. Longer-term reforms include establishing a Household Economic Monitoring Cell within the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics, ensuring equitable regional allocation, and embedding a “people’s lens” in all national planning.
“Strengthening economic democracy begins when we put the people’s lens at the heart of policymaking,” Dr. Rahman emphasized. “The challenge is not GDP growth alone. The challenge is whether the economy delivers equity, resilience, and dignity for its citizens.”
The report serves as a sobering reminder that headline economic growth figures often mask underlying hardship. As Bangladesh grapples with rising poverty and inequality, experts warn that structural reforms, not just coping strategies, are essential to prevent further deepening of social and economic divides.
Image: The Borgan Project
