Poverty rate declines to 18.7%: BBS

The poverty rate in Bangladesh has declined to 18.7 per cent and the extreme poverty rate stood at 5.6 per cent, according to the latest data from the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS).

The national statistical agency published the "Household Income and Expenditure Survey -2022" today.

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Inequality at all-time high

According to the previous survey carried out in 2016, the poverty rate was 24.3 per cent and the extreme poverty rate was 12.9 per cent.

Mohiuddin Ahmed, project director of the Household Income and Expenditure Survey 2020-21, revealed the survey findings. Photo: Star

Mohiuddin Ahmed, project director of the Household Income and Expenditure Survey 2020-21, revealed the survey data at an event at BBS's headquarters in Dhaka this afternoon.

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Household Income and Expenditure Survey: Initial results due in March

On Tuesday, Planning Minister MA Mannan hinted that the poverty rate would see a significant fall despite worries from many economists and think tanks that the coronavirus pandemic had pushed more people into poverty.

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'Poverty reduced significantly'

"The poverty rate has gone down in the country. It is an achievement that the prime minister has lauded. She was very proud of the country's achievements during the pandemic. She was elated," Mannan said.