Women entrepreneurs remain heavily concentrated in smaller and informal businesses in Bangladesh, with their participation in enterprise lending declining sharply as businesses move towards larger and more formal operations.
According to Bangladesh Bank’s Financial Inclusion Report 2025, women accounted for 69 per cent of borrowers in cottage enterprises and 72 per cent in informal businesses in the fourth quarter of 2025. Their share fell to 49 per cent in medium enterprises, 24 per cent in micro enterprises and just 20 per cent in small enterprises.
The report recorded 161,213 women-owned enterprises receiving cottage, micro, small and medium enterprise (CMSME) loans, compared with 267,424 male-owned enterprises. Women therefore represented approximately 37.6 per cent of the 428,637 enterprise borrowers, while men accounted for 62.4 per cent.
Category-wise, women accounted for 19,712 borrowers in cottage enterprises and 66,987 in informal enterprises. The corresponding figures were 13,809 in medium enterprises, 26,074 in micro enterprises and 34,631 in small enterprises.
The figures show a sharp gender imbalance in smaller formal business categories. In small enterprises, men accounted for 80 per cent of borrowers, compared with 20 per cent for women. In micro enterprises, the respective shares were 76 per cent and 24 per cent.
Medium enterprises showed a more balanced distribution, with women representing 49 per cent of borrowers, close to parity with men.
The contrast between cottage and informal businesses and micro and small enterprises points to the uneven distribution of women’s participation across the CMSME sector. Women have a stronger presence in household-based, cottage and informal economic activities but remain less represented in larger and more formal business segments.
Expanding into micro and small enterprises generally requires greater working capital, investment in equipment, formal documentation and access to larger financing facilities. The figures raise concerns about whether women entrepreneurs can secure sufficient institutional financing to expand their businesses and compete in larger markets.
Bangladesh Bank has taken several initiatives to improve women’s access to institutional financing through policy support, refinancing schemes and targeted lending programmes.
The 2025 CMSME Finance Policy aims to expand inclusive lending, with banks and finance companies expected to increase financing for cottage, micro and small enterprises and women entrepreneurs.
Bangladesh Bank also operates a Tk3,000 crore refinancing facility for women entrepreneurs at a 5 per cent interest rate and provides refinancing support for start-ups and women-led businesses while simplifying access to institutional credit.
Despite these measures, women’s access to CMSME financing remains uneven across enterprise categories.
The report calls for wider use of agent banking, microfinance linkages and peer-based lending to reach entrepreneurs facing geographical or social barriers to conventional banking.
Limited financing can prevent women-owned businesses from buying machinery, expanding production, hiring workers, upgrading technology and entering larger markets. The report stresses better credit access, continued data collection and targeted policy support to help women expand into sustainable commercial enterprises.
Bangladesh’s CMSME sector contributes to employment, entrepreneurship and economic diversification, making women’s equal access to finance important for expanding productive capacity.
Policymakers and financial institutions face the challenge of extending women’s strong participation in cottage and informal businesses to larger enterprises. Without better financing, women may remain concentrated in smaller businesses, limiting their expansion and contribution to industrial and economic development.
