City Desk :
In the bustling streets of Dhaka, countless lives teeter on the edge of survival, where each day’s earnings decide whether families eat or go hungry.
Thirty-two-year-old Rina Begum sets up her modest stall near a busy bus stop, balancing two large pots on a makeshift wooden table as she sells puffed rice and fried snacks to rickshaw-pullers, day-labourers, and office-goers.
On good days, she earns around Tk 500–600, but when rain falls or authorities force vendors off the streets, her earnings are halved, reports UNB.
“The prices of oil, rice, and vegetables have doubled in the last two years, but my earnings remain the same. Sometimes I skip meals so that my children can eat,” she said, wiping sweat from her forehead as she fried ‘beguni’ in a sizzling pan.
Rina’s story is far from unique. She is one of more than 6 crore Bangladeshis working in the informal sector, which constitutes nearly 85 per cent of the country’s workforce, according to the Labour Force Survey by the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS).
From domestic helpers and construction workers to street vendors and transport operators, these millions form the invisible backbone of Bangladesh’s economy, yet they receive little recognition or protection.
A joint study by Karmojibi Nari and FES Bangladesh, covering informal workers in all divisions, found that most are employed in retail and sales, agriculture and livestock, food and beverage services, transport and crafts.
Nearly 69 per cent of these workers are aged between 25 and 44. Various studies estimate that the informal sector contributes roughly 40–43 per cent of Bangladesh’s GDP. Without these jobs, many would face unemployment or underemployment.
Despite their critical role, informal workers remain largely unrecognised, without legal protection, social security, or support systems, especially amid rising inflation. Economists say inflation has hit them hardest.
Professor Dr M Shariful Haque, Chairman of the Department of Economics and Banking at the International Islamic University Chittagong, explained that high food inflation sharply reduces the real incomes of informal workers, whose cash wages and small-business revenues are not indexed. “When food inflation spikes, they have no cushion. Their choices are between eating less, borrowing, or pulling their children out of school,” he said.
Prof Haque added that the average income of informal workers ranges from Tk 10,000 to Tk 30,000, but these earnings have not kept pace with inflation, which reached 10.03 per cent in the 2024–25 fiscal year, the highest in 14 years.
Food inflation rose to 10.70 per cent, while non-food inflation stood at 9.47 per cent. In August, the inflation rate fell slightly to 8.29 per cent, the lowest in over three years.
Rice prices, in particular, are exerting strong pressure on both food and overall inflation, according to the latest economic update from the General Economics Division (GED) of the Planning Commission under the Planning Ministry.
