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Despite foreign investment increasing in Bangladesh in the last calendar year, it has decreased in the ongoing fiscal year, according to official data.
The Bangladesh Bank estimate released on May 5 shows that net foreign direct investment (FDI) of $1.77 billion came into the country last year. The amount stood at $1.27 billion in 2024.
This means the net FDI increased by slightly more than $500 million in one year, marking a 36.36 per cent surge, reports bdnews.com.
On May 6, the central bank released the current account balance (balance of payments or BoP) data for the nine months until March of the 2025-26 fiscal year, when the net FDI totalled $1 billion.
Over the same period in the last fiscal year, the country received $1.31 billion in net FDI – a $310 million or 23.56 per cent decline.
In the third quarter (January-March) of the current fiscal year, the amount was merely $199 million.
But the figure was recorded at $788 million over the same period a year ago.
Net FDI is calculated by subtracting outgoing payments related to past investments from the total incoming investment during a specific period.
Bangladesh received its highest-ever net FDI of $2.63 billion in the fiscal 2018-19.
The Awami League-led government used to point to "political stability as a means of development" in response to criticism of its lack of democracy.
Despite the unrest, violence and uncertainty that gripped the country after the fall of their government on Aug 5, 2024, in a student uprising, Bangladesh received net foreign investment of $1.71 billion in the 2024-25 fiscal year.
That marked a 20.14 per cent spike compared with that in the previous fiscal year.
Net FDI investment of $1.42 billion came to Bangladesh in the 2023-24 fiscal year.
Calendar Year-wise FDI
The central bank says the country registered a record $3.61 billion in net FDI throughout 2018.
The downward trend started the very next year when the amount dropped to 2.87 billion.
The COVID-19 pandemic weighed heavily on the FDI inflow, causing the amount to fall to $2.56 in 2020, and it drastically decreased to $1.57 billion in the following year.
In 2022, the FDI fell to $1.51 billion, which further dwindled to $1.46 billion in 2023.
The decline did not stop in 2024 either, reaching $1.274 billion – the lowest since 2018.
However, after years of continuous debacle, FDI jumped to $1.77 billion in 2025.