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More than 48 per cent of the candidates contesting the upcoming national elections in February are businessmen, according to the candidates' affidavits analysed by Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB).
The figure is the lowest since the ninth parliamentary election.
It was 57.67 per cent in the 12th national election.
The number of teachers and advocates has risen.
However, only 1.56 per cent of the candidates have shown politics as their profession.
Over 25 per cent of the aspirants have taken loans in some form.
The TIB report titled "Candidate Profiles in Election Affidavits" was presented by Mohammad Tauhidul Islam, director of outreach and communication at the organisation, at a press conference in the capital on Thursday.
TIB Executive Director Dr Iftekharuzzaman spoke at the event.
Of the top 10 wealthiest candidates based on the value of their movable assets, seven are from the BNP and three are independent.
Of the top parties, the BNP has the highest debt ratio at 59.41 per cent.
Next are the independent candidates, with their debt ratio at 32.79 per cent.
Considering the value of movable and immovable assets, there are 27 billionaire candidates.
Of them, 18 are from the BNP and nine are independent.
Twenty-one candidates declared they had acquired and later renounced foreign citizenship.
However, at least two candidates did not mention their dual citizenship status in their affidavits, said the TIB.
According to the information received by it, the two are British citizens.
"The responsible institutions of the government do not have the capacity to verify the information submitted in the affidavits," Dr Iftekharuzzaman said.
"There are huge discrepancies between the information submitted by the candidates in the affidavits and the reality," he said.
The TIB report says 25.5 per cent of the candidates have debt totalling Tk 188.68 billion.
Of the total 1,981 candidates contesting the elections, 891 are millionaires.
Although the number of candidates with debts or liabilities is the lowest considering the last five elections, their total debt is the highest.
Of debts, bank loans are Tk 174.71 billion.
There are lawsuits against 530 candidates (22.66 per cent).
The total election expenditure declared by all parties is Tk 4.64 billion. The average expenditure per candidate is Tk 2.25 million.
The BNP has declared the highest expenditure - Tk 1.2 billion.
The Jamaat-e-Islami is in the second place with an expenditure of Tk 0.8 billion.
A total of 51 parties are contesting the polls. The average age of the candidates is 51.8 years, the lowest compared to the last five elections.
As many as 76.42 per cent of the candidates have a bachelor's degree or higher.
The number of candidates from Islamist parties has increased significantly in this election.
More than 36 per cent of the candidates are from Islamist parties, the highest in the past five elections.
The target of 5 per cent participation of female candidates has not been met this time either.
In terms of spending from parties for their candidates, Jamaat outperformed others with Tk 70 million.
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