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Employment · Where the formal jobs are
The Economic Census counts persons engaged in permanent non-agricultural establishments. It is the closest thing Bangladesh has to a map of its formal economy: where manufacturing concentrates, where trade carries small towns, and how thin the establishment base is once you leave the Dhaka and Chattogram belt. Agriculture and informal or household work are outside its frame.
By sector
Manufacturing and wholesale and retail trade together account for the bulk of formal engagement. The two are close in total but very different in geography: manufacturing clusters in a handful of districts, while trade is spread thinly across nearly every upazila.
By district
Districts ranked by total persons engaged, with the single largest sector in each. Dhaka alone holds more than a fifth of all formal engagement; the top four manufacturing districts, Dhaka, Chattogram, Gazipur and Narayanganj, dominate the upper tier, while wholesale and retail trade is the leading sector almost everywhere else.
| # | District | Persons | Share | Leading sector | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dhaka | 3,108,991 | 21.2% | Manufacturing | |
| 2 | Chattogram | 1,682,304 | 11.5% | Manufacturing | |
| 3 | Gazipur | 923,600 | 6.3% | Manufacturing | |
| 4 | Narayanganj | 632,730 | 4.3% | Manufacturing | |
| 5 | Mymensingh | 517,868 | 3.5% | Wholesale & retail trade | |
| 6 | Bogura | 422,677 | 2.9% | Wholesale & retail trade | |
| 7 | Cumilla | 378,012 | 2.6% | Wholesale & retail trade | |
| 8 | Sirajganj | 368,312 | 2.5% | Manufacturing | |
| 9 | Tangail | 347,999 | 2.4% | Manufacturing | |
| 10 | Jashore | 298,178 | 2.0% | Wholesale & retail trade | |
| 11 | Pabna | 284,635 | 1.9% | Wholesale & retail trade | |
| 12 | Narsingdi | 279,001 | 1.9% | Wholesale & retail trade | |
| 13 | Rajshahi | 278,463 | 1.9% | Wholesale & retail trade | |
| 14 | Rangpur | 271,938 | 1.9% | Wholesale & retail trade | |
| 15 | Khulna | 238,842 | 1.6% | Manufacturing | |
| 16 | Dinajpur | 238,026 | 1.6% | Wholesale & retail trade | |
| 17 | Naogaon | 233,286 | 1.6% | Wholesale & retail trade | |
| 18 | Brahmanbaria | 223,667 | 1.5% | Wholesale & retail trade | |
| 19 | Kishoreganj | 189,010 | 1.3% | Wholesale & retail trade | |
| 20 | Natore | 184,941 | 1.3% | Wholesale & retail trade | |
| 21 | Bhola | 167,850 | 1.1% | Wholesale & retail trade | |
| 22 | Moulvibazar | 151,567 | 1.0% | Wholesale & retail trade | |
| 23 | Gaibandha | 151,357 | 1.0% | Wholesale & retail trade | |
| 24 | Sylhet | 149,055 | 1.0% | Wholesale & retail trade | |
| 25 | Jamalpur | 147,704 | 1.0% | Wholesale & retail trade | |
| 26 | Kushtia | 141,742 | 1.0% | Wholesale & retail trade | |
| 27 | Feni | 140,097 | 1.0% | Wholesale & retail trade | |
| 28 | Lakshmipur | 138,036 | 0.9% | Wholesale & retail trade | |
| 29 | Faridpur | 135,304 | 0.9% | Wholesale & retail trade | |
| 30 | Jhenaidah | 134,615 | 0.9% | Wholesale & retail trade | |
| 31 | Satkhira | 126,050 | 0.9% | Wholesale & retail trade | |
| 32 | Kurigram | 124,668 | 0.9% | Wholesale & retail trade | |
| 33 | Chuadanga | 121,644 | 0.8% | Wholesale & retail trade | |
| 34 | Habiganj | 118,796 | 0.8% | Wholesale & retail trade | |
| 35 | Patuakhali | 113,310 | 0.8% | Wholesale & retail trade | |
| 36 | Pirojpur | 113,211 | 0.8% | Wholesale & retail trade | |
| 37 | Manikganj | 108,456 | 0.7% | Wholesale & retail trade | |
| 38 | Magura | 108,160 | 0.7% | Wholesale & retail trade | |
| 39 | Sherpur | 105,647 | 0.7% | Wholesale & retail trade | |
| 40 | Shariatpur | 92,049 | 0.6% | Wholesale & retail trade | |
| 41 | Joypurhat | 90,903 | 0.6% | Wholesale & retail trade | |
| 42 | Thakurgaon | 86,780 | 0.6% | Wholesale & retail trade | |
| 43 | Rangamati | 80,137 | 0.5% | Wholesale & retail trade | |
| 44 | Cox's Bazar | 73,486 | 0.5% | Wholesale & retail trade | |
| 45 | Khagrachhari | 72,088 | 0.5% | Wholesale & retail trade | |
| 46 | Barishal | 71,535 | 0.5% | Wholesale & retail trade | |
| 47 | Madaripur | 64,556 | 0.4% | Wholesale & retail trade | |
| 48 | Nilphamari | 63,765 | 0.4% | Wholesale & retail trade | |
| 49 | Barguna | 58,042 | 0.4% | Wholesale & retail trade | |
| 50 | Meherpur | 57,036 | 0.4% | Wholesale & retail trade | |
| 51 | Jhalokati | 52,625 | 0.4% | Wholesale & retail trade | |
| 52 | Chandpur | 43,027 | 0.3% | Wholesale & retail trade | |
| 53 | Lalmonirhat | 38,648 | 0.3% | Wholesale & retail trade | |
| 54 | Gopalganj | 32,312 | 0.2% | Wholesale & retail trade | |
| 55 | Bandarban | 32,088 | 0.2% | Wholesale & retail trade | |
| 56 | Netrakona | 26,826 | 0.2% | Wholesale & retail trade | |
| 57 | Narail | 20,611 | 0.1% | Wholesale & retail trade | |
| 58 | Bagerhat | 5,510 | 0.0% | Wholesale & retail trade | |
| 59 | Panchagarh | 2,662 | 0.0% | Wholesale & retail trade |
Method and sources
Persons engaged in permanent non-agricultural establishments, BBS Economic Census 2013 (District Reports, Table 8), aggregated from 397 upazila records across 59 districts. Agriculture and informal or household work are outside the census frame, so these are formal establishment counts, not total employment. The interactive establishment dot map, where each dot is 100 persons placed by population weighting, is on the roadmap; the figures above are the underlying aggregates.