Staff Reporter :
Bangladesh’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth decelerated to 3.91 per cent year-on-year in the fourth quarter (April-June) of the fiscal year 2023-24, according to data from the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS).
This represents a significant decline compared to the 6.88 per cent GDP growth recorded during the same period of the previous fiscal year (FY23). The BBS data indicates that growth rates in the first three quarters of FY24 were 6.04 per cent, 4.78 per cent, and 5.42 per cent, in contrast to 6.25 per cent, 7.05 per cent, and 3.02 per cent in the corresponding quarters of FY23.
In the fourth quarter of FY24, the agriculture sector grew by 5.27 per cent, down from 6.55 per cent in Q4 FY23. The sector’s growth rates for the first three quarters of FY24 were 0.35 per cent, 4.08 per cent, and 5.16 per cent, compared to lower growth rates of 0.22 per cent, 3.83 per cent, and 1.92 per cent in FY23.
The industrial sector, a key contributor to Bangladesh’s GDP, recorded a growth rate of 3.98 per cent in Q4 FY24, marking a steep decline from 10.16 per cent in the same quarter of FY23. For the first three quarters of FY24, the sector’s growth rates were 8.22 per cent, 2.91 per cent, and 6.25 per cent, while FY23 saw rates of 5.80 per cent, 10.55 per cent, and 6.91 per cent.
The services sector also experienced a slowdown, posting a growth rate of 3.67 per cent in Q4 FY24, down from 4.82 per cent in the corresponding period of FY23. Additionally, for the first three quarters of FY24, the sector recorded growth rates of 5.07 per cent, 5.78 per cent, and 3.81 per cent, which are lower than the 9.43 per cent, 6.30 per cent, and 1.45 per cent growth observed during the same quarters of FY23.
