27.93pc of people live below poverty line: Survey

Poverty in Bangladesh has risen alarmingly, with more than one in four citizens now living below the poverty line and inequality reaching its steepest level in decades, according to a national survey released by the Power and Participation Research Centre (PPRC) on Monday.

The findings were presented at a dissemination event of the study, titled "State of the Real Economy: Household Realities and Policy Options Towards Strengthening Economic Democracy", held at the LGED Auditorium in the capital.

Commissioned by the finance ministry through a competitive process, the survey covered 8,067 households across all 64 districts.

"This is not just a story of poverty returning but of vulnerabilities multiplying," said PPRC Executive Chairman Dr Hossain Zillur Rahman, who led the study. "Focusing only on macroeconomics is not enough - we need to focus on people's wellbeing, on ground realities, on equitable allocation."

The survey shows 27.93 per cent of the population now living below the upper poverty line, up from 18.7 per cent in 2022. Extreme poverty has also risen sharply, from 5.6 per cent to 9.35 per cent.

Rural areas were found to be hardest hit, with 31.6 per cent of households below the upper poverty line, compared with 19.7 per cent in urban areas. The middle class is increasingly fragile, with families reporting dwindling savings, rising debt, and difficult trade-offs in education expenses.

"The poor are not just poor in income - they are poor in resilience," Dr Rahman noted.

The study identified five interlocking vulnerabilities shaping household struggles. More than half of households (51.3 per cent) have at least one member suffering from a chronic illness, while female-headed households remain disproportionately disadvantaged.

The bottom 40 per cent of households were found to carry debt at least twice the size of their savings, highlighting growing financial fragility. Food insecurity is also acute, with 12 per cent of the poorest reporting that they had to skip meals in the last week and 9.0 per cent saying they went an entire day without food.

In addition, progress on sanitation has stalled, as 36 per cent of households continue to rely on non-sanitary toilets.

The national expenditure Gini coefficient jumped to 0.436 in 2025 from 0.334 in 2022. Inequality is most severe in urban areas, where the Gini index 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.

Employment emerged as the central "fault line." While just over half of adults reported some form of work, 37.7 per cent were underemployed, working fewer than 40 hours a week.

Women were disproportionately affected, with 65.5 per cent of women underemployed and female labour force participation stuck at 25.5 per cent. Nearly half of workers were self-employed, reflecting both resilience and precarity.

Despite widespread distress, the study also highlighted resilience. Around 15 per cent of households received remittances averaging Tk 29,762 per month, although this was concentrated among higher-income groups. Smartphone penetration stood at 74 per cent, rising to 80 per cent in households with youth. Nearly half of households have shifted to cylinder gas use to cope with rising costs.

The domestic consumer market is now estimated at US$211 billion, reflecting untapped economic potential even amid hardship.

"People are coping, but these are fragile adaptations, not substitutes for structural policy action," Dr Rahman cautioned.

The report also flagged harassment, or "hoirani", as a major household burden. Nearly half of families reported negative experiences in health services, 42 per cent in markets, and significant shares in schools, workplaces, and government offices.

While reported bribe payments have declined since August 2024, harassment remains widespread. The police accounted for 39.4 per cent of reported bribe recipients, followed by political activists.

"A bribe may be Tk 10, but the week lost in delays and hassles costs much more," the report observed.

One year after the July Uprising, the national mood remains divided by class. While 62 per cent of wealthier households said they were optimistic about the future, only 17.7 per cent of the poorest expressed the same. Overall, however, 54 per cent of households described themselves as at least "somewhat optimistic."

High prices were identified as the top concern (69.6 per cent), followed by corruption (55.9 per cent) and governance failures (52 per cent). Across income groups, aspirations converged on education, secure jobs, good health, and a corruption-free society.

The PPRC recommended several urgent measures to address the crisis, including the introduction of an emergency family assistance package for vulnerable households, education continuity grants to prevent children from dropping out of school, expansion of open market sales of essential commodities, and the creation of a new safety net for families burdened by chronic illness

For the medium term, it proposed participatory policymaking, transparent reform reporting, and a Household Resilience Task Force.

Longer-term reforms include creating a Household Economic Monitoring Cell within the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics, ensuring equitable regional allocation, and embedding a "people's lens" in national planning.

"Strengthening economic democracy begins when we put the people's lens at the heart of policymaking," Dr Rahman says.

"The challenge is not GDP growth alone. The challenge is whether the economy delivers equity, resilience, and dignity for its citizens."

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