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Source: World Bank, IMF, Bangladesh Bank, and cited primary sources
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The extension to 2029 has not been granted, and it comes with a rubric. Bank non-performing loans have more than tripled to 30.6% of gross loans, tax revenue has moved one percentage point in two decades, and 81.5% of goods exports are garments, half of them sold under a trade preference that ends at graduation.
Read brief →Bangladesh grows cereals at 1.464 times the peer median yield and sits third of six on population hunger. Its under-fives are the most wasted and the most stunted of the four countries reporting.
Read brief →Bangladeshi banks held capital worth 2.29% of assets in 2024, last of six Asian economies, while carrying non-performing loans of 9.57% of gross loans, the highest of the six. The lending side has already started to shrink.
Read brief →Bangladesh used 287.8 kg of oil equivalent per person in 2023, the lowest energy use per person of six Asian economies and 29% of the peer median, while running the third-largest manufacturing sector in the group relative to GDP. Whether that number records efficiency or a ceiling is the question the data cannot settle.
Read brief →Bangladesh generated 21.69% of its electricity from oil in 2023, the highest share of six Asian economies and thirteen times the peer median. It still delivers 602.9 kWh per person, fifth of the six. The expensive fuel is not buying abundance.
Read brief →Bangladesh carries 1,319 people on every square kilometre, the densest of six Asian economies, and has already put 72.31% of its territory under agriculture, the largest share of the six. The extensive margin is finished. What remains is yield, fertiliser and water.
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