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Income inequality in Bangladesh has reached alarming levels, with a significant disparity between the nation’s wealthiest and poorest citizens.
The top 10% of the population in Bangladesh holds 58.5% of the nation’s total wealth, while the bottom 50% possess only 4.8%, according to Dr. Rumana Haque, a member of the task force on “Re-strategising the Economy and Mobilising Resources for Equitable and Sustainable Development.”
She shared this data during a paper presentation at the Conference on Recommendations by the Task Force on Re-strategising the Economy, hosted by the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) in Dhaka on Tuesday.
Dr Haque highlighted that income inequality in the country has worsened, with the wealthy seeing even greater financial gains. She stressed the need for the government to focus on revitalising the rural economy to reduce this income gap. She noted that while urban areas have benefited from industrialisation, infrastructure investment, and foreign direct investment (FDI), 85% of the workforce remains in low-wage, unprotected jobs.
She also pointed out that poor-quality education in rural areas limits opportunities for upward mobility and that VAT disproportionately affects lower-income groups. To address these issues, Dr. Haque called for progressive taxation on wealth and inheritance, along with stricter enforcement to curb tax evasion and reduce wealth concentration. Additionally, she urged expanding access to quality education, vocational training, and financial inclusion, particularly for disadvantaged groups, to support small and medium enterprises (SMEs).
Key recommendations also included strengthening welfare programs, introducing universal basic income, ensuring fair wages, and supporting labor unions.
Sharmeen S Murshid, adviser to the Ministries of Social Welfare and Women and Children Affairs, acknowledged the challenges of poverty alleviation and suggested a cluster-based approach. She emphasised the importance of a structured framework to monitor government programs, highlighting the lack of transparency as a significant issue. Murshid also pointed out that the financial support provided so far has been inadequate and called for an increase in allowances or expanded policy coverage to empower the poor.
Dr MA Razzaque, chairman of Research and Policy Integration for Development (RAPID), criticised previous governments for overstating the impact of social protection programs. He noted that these initiatives often fail to reach the truly poor. He also mentioned that in FY25, social protection spending is projected to account for 2.5% of GDP and 17% of the budget, but when irrelevant programs are excluded, it falls to just 1.2% of GDP and 7% of the budget.
