Bangladesh’s GDP growth slowed significantly in the second quarter of the current fiscal year, following a strong recovery in the previous quarter.
According to data released by the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS), the economy grew by 3.03 per cent in the October–December period, down from 3.53 per cent in the same period last year.
The growth had been as low as 2.05 per cent in the April–June quarter of 2025, but recovered to 4.96 per cent in the July–September quarter, marking the first quarter of the current fiscal year.
The BBS report, released on Monday, highlights the drop in GDP growth from 4.96 per cent in the previous quarter to 3.03 per cent in October–December.
GDP growth measures the overall size of a country’s economy and how much it has increased compared to the previous year. The slowdown presents a significant challenge for the government.
Breaking down the performance by sectors, the agricultural sector saw growth of 3.68 per cent in October–December, a notable increase from 1.9 per cent in the same period last year.
The services sector also showed strong growth, expanding by 4.45 per cent compared to 3.48 per cent last year.
However, the industrial sector experienced a sharp decline year on year, with growth slowing to just 1.27 per cent, down from 5.78 per cent in the same quarter last year.
Analysts have pointed out that the slowdown may be worsened by ongoing global economic pressures, particularly the Iran-Israel conflict.
