Quarterly GDP growth shrinks to 1.81% following Jul-Aug political upheaval, lowest in nearly four years

The GDP size of Bangladesh stands at Tk12,665,74 crore

The GDP growth rate in the first quarter of the ongoing fiscal 2024-25 stood at 1.81%, the lowest in 15 quarters or nearly four years, following the political turmoil in July-August during which a student-people uprising in the country ousted the autocratic regime of Sheikh Hasina.

The last time the GDP growth was the lowest at 0.93% was in the October-December period of FY2020-21.

According to the provisional estimates for Q1 of FY25, the GDP size at present is Tk12,665,74 crore — compared to Tk19,703,10 crore in Q1 of FY2023-24 when the GDP growth rate was 6.04%.

The Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) published the estimated data today (6 January).

It is to be noted that there is a difference between the nominal GDP estimate for FY24 estimated on an annual basis by the BBS and the combined GDP of the four quarters for the same fiscal year estimated on a quarterly basis, which was calculated in accordance with the internationally followed method after finalising the annual GDP for FY24.

Different sectors showed different growth rates in the first quarter of the current fiscal year.

The agriculture sector saw the lowest growth rate of 0.16% in Q1. The sector’s growth in Q1 of FY24 was 0.35%.

The industrial sector’s growth in Q1 of FY25 was 2.13%. It was 8.22% in Q1 of the last fiscal year.

The service sector growth rate in Q1 of FY25 at constant prices on a point-to-point basis was 1.54%. It was 5.07% in the same period of FY24.

Meanwhile, the country’s food inflation rate in December was at 12.92%, down from 13.8% in November.

The slight fall in food prices also reduced the general inflation rate to 10.89% in December. It was 11.38% in November.

Source: The Business Standard | 06 January 2025