Bangladesh

Economy - overview: The economy has grown 5-6% per year since 1996 despite political instability, poor infrastructure, corruption, insufficient power supplies, and slow implementation of economic reforms.  Bangladesh remains a poor,  overpopulated, and inefficiently-governed nation. Although  more than half of GDP is generated through  the service sector, 45% of Bangladeshis are employed in the agriculture sector, with rice as the single- most-important product. Bangladesh's growth was resilient during the 2008-09 global financial crisis a nd recession. Garment exports, totaling $12.3 billion in  FY09 and remittances from overseas Bangladeshis,totaling $11 billion in FY10,  accounted for almost 25% of GDP. GDP (purchasing power parity): $259.3 billion (2010 est.) country comparison to the world: 47 $244.6 billion (2009 est.) $231.4 billion (2008 est.) note: data are in 2010 US dollars GDP (official exchange rate): $100.1 billion (2010 est.) GDP - real growth rate: 6% (2010 est.) country comparison to the world: 44 5.7% (2009 est.) 6% (2008 est.) GDP - per capita (PPP): $1,700 (2010 est.) country comparison to the world: 195 $1,600 (2009 est.) $1,500 (2008 est.) note: data are in 2010 US dollars GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 18.4% industry: 28.7% services: 52.9% (2010 est.) Labor force: 73.87 million country comparison to the world: 8 note: extensive export of labor to Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, UAE, Oman, Qatar, and Malaysia;  workers' remittances were $10.9 billion in FY09/10 (2010 est.) Labor force - by occupation: agriculture: 45% industry: 30% services: 25% (2008) Unemployment rate: 4.8% (2010 est.) country comparison to the world: 44 5.1% (2009 est.) note: about 40% of the population is underemployed; many participants in the labor force work only a  few hours a week, at low wages Population below poverty line: 40% (2010 est.) Household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%: NA highest 10%: 26.6% (2008 est.) Distribution of family income - Gini index: 33.2 (2005) country comparison to the world: 95 33.6 (1996) Investment (gross fixed): 24.4% of GDP (2010 est.) country comparison to the world: 48 Budget: revenues: $11.43 billion expenditures: $15.9 billion (2010 est.) Public debt: 39.3% of GDP (2010 est.) country comparison to the world: 75 39.7% of GDP (2009 est.) Inflation rate (consumer prices): 8.1% (2010 est.) country comparison to the world: 185 5.4% (2009 est.) Central bank discount rate: 5% (31 October 2010) country comparison to the world: 81 5% (31 December 2008) Commercial bank prime lending rate: 11.18% (30 September 2010 est.) country comparison to the world: 46 14.6% (31 December 2009 est.) Stock of narrow money: $13.98 billion (31 December 2010 est.) country comparison to the world: 67 $10.92 billion (31 December 2009 est.) Stock of broad money: $57.21 billion (31 December 2010 est.) country comparison to the world: 64 $63.03 billion (31 December 2009) Stock of domestic credit: $62.2 billion (31 December 2010 est.) country comparison to the world: 60 $53.77 billion (31 December 2009 est.) Market value of publicly traded shares: $7.068 billion (31 December 2009) country comparison to the world: 74 $6.671 billion (31 December 2008) $6.793 billion (31 December 2007) Agriculture - products: rice, jute, tea, wheat, sugarcane, potatoes, tobacco, pulses, oilseeds, spices, fruit; beef, milk,  poultry Industries: cotton textiles, jute, garments, tea processing, paper newsprint, cement, chemical fertilizer, light  engineering, sugar Industrial production growth rate: 6.4% (2010 est.) country comparison to the world: 54 Electricity - production: 25.62 billion kWh (2009 est.) country comparison to the world: 65 Electricity - consumption: 23.94 billion kWh (2009 est.) country comparison to the world: 65 Electricity - exports: 0 kWh (2008 est.) Electricity - imports: 0 kWh (2008 est.) Oil - production: 5,733 bbl/day (2009 est.) country comparison to the world: 93 Oil - consumption: 82,340 bbl/day (2010) country comparison to the world: 84 Oil - exports: 2,612 bbl/day (2007 est.) country comparison to the world: 108 Oil - imports: 77,340 bbl/day (2010 est.) country comparison to the world: 76 Oil - proved reserves: 28 million bbl (1 January 2010 est.) country comparison to the world: 83 Natural gas - production: 19.91 billion cu m (2010 est.) country comparison to the world: 32 Natural gas - consumption: 20.1 billion cu m (2010 est.) country comparison to the world: 34 Natural gas - exports: 0 cu m (2008 est.) country comparison to the world: 60 Natural gas - imports: 0 cu m (2008 est.) country comparison to the world: 152 Natural gas - proved reserves: 195.4 billion cu m (1 January 2010 est.) country comparison to the world: 46 Current account balance: $3.734 billion (2010 est.) country comparison to the world: 35 $2.416 billion (2009 est.) Exports: $16.24 billion (2010 est.) country comparison to the world: 73 $15.58 billion (2009 est.) Exports - commodities: garments, frozen fish and seafood, jute and jute goods, leather Exports - partners: US 22.5%, Germany 14.2%, UK 9.6%, France 7%, Netherlands 6.4% (2009) Imports: $21.34 billion (2010 est.) country comparison to the world: 68 $20.3 billion (2009 est.) Imports - commodities: machinery and equipment, chemicals, iron and steel, textiles, foodstuffs, petroleum products, cement Imports - partners: China 16.16%, India 12.61%, Singapore 7.55%, Japan 4.63%, Malaysia 4.46% (2009) Reserves of foreign exchange and gold: $10.79 billion (31 December 2010 est.) country comparison to the world: 57 $10.34 billion (31 December 2009 est.) Debt - external: $24.46 billion (31 December 2010 est.) country comparison to the world: 68 $24.22 billion (31 December 2009 est.) Stock of direct foreign investment - at home: $6.72 billion (31 December 2010 est.) country comparison to the world: 85 $5.617 billion (31 December 2009 est.) Stock of direct foreign investment - abroad: $82 million (31 December 2010 est.) country comparison to the world: 81 $81 million (31 December 2009 est.) Exchange rates: taka (BDT) per US dollar - 70.59 (2010) 69.04 (2009) 68.554 (2008) 69.893 (2007) 69.031 (2006)

elephones - main lines in use: 1.522 million (2009) country comparison to the world: 64 Telephones - mobile cellular: 50.4 million (2009) country comparison to the world: 24 Telephone system: general assessment: inadequate for a modern country; introducing digital  systems; trunk systems  include VHF and UHF microwave radio relay links, and some fiber-optic  cable in cities domestic: fixed-line teledensity remains only about 1 per 100 persons; mobile- cellular telephone subscribership has been increasing rapidly and now exceeds 30 telephones  per 100 persons international: country code - 880; landing point for the SEA-ME-WE-4 fiber- optic  submarine cable  system that provides links to Europe, the Middle East, and Asia; satellite earth  stations - 6; international radiotelephone communications  and landline service toneighboring countries (2009) Broadcast media: state-owned broadcaster (BTV) operates 1 terrestrial TV station, 3 radio networks, and about 10 local  stations; 8 private satellite TV stations and 3 private radio stations also broadcasting; foreign satellite TV stations are gaining audience share in the large cities; several international radio broadcasters are available (2007) Internet country code: .bd Internet hosts: 68,224 (2010) country comparison to the world: 81 Internet users: 617,300 (2009) country comparison to the world: 112

Airports: 17 (2010) country comparison to the world: 141 Airports - with paved runways: total: 15 over 3,047 m: 2 2,438 to 3,047 m: 2 1,524 to 2,437 m: 6 914 to 1,523 m: 1 under 914 m: 4 (2010) Airports - with unpaved runways: total: 2 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 under 914 m: 1 (2010) Pipelines: gas 2,714 km (2010) Railways: total: 2,622 km country comparison to the world: 64 broad gauge: 946 km 1.676-m gauge narrow gauge: 1,676 km 1.000-m gauge (2010) Roadways: total: 239,226 km country comparison to the world: 21 paved: 22,726 km unpaved: 216,500 km (2003) Waterways: 8,370 km (includes up to 3,060 km of main cargo routes; the network is  reduced to 5,200 km in  the dry season) (2007) country comparison to the world: 17 Merchant marine: total: 50 country comparison to the world: 70 by type: bulk carrier 16, cargo 25, container 5, petroleum tanker 4 foreign-owned: 4 (China 1, Singapore 3) registered in other countries: 9 (Comoros 1, Malta 1, Panama 3, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines  1, Sierra Leone 1, Singapore 2) (2010) Ports and terminals: Chittagong, Mongla Port Transportation - note: the International Maritime Bureau reports the territorial waters of Bangladesh as  high risk for armed robbery against ships; numerous commercial vessels have been attacked both at anchor and while  underway; crews have been robbed and  stores or cargoes stolen

Military branches: Bangladesh Defense Force: Bangladesh Army (Sena Bahini), Bangladesh Navy (Noh Bahini, BN),  Bangladesh Air Force (Biman Bahini, BAF) (2010) Military service age and obligation: 16 years of age for voluntary enlisted military service (Air Force); 17 years of age (Army and Navy); conscription is by law possible in times of emergency,  but has never been implemented (2010) Manpower available for military service: males age 16-49: 36,520,491 (2010 est.) Manpower fit for military service: males age 16-49: 30,486,086 females age 16-49: 35,616,093 (2010 est.) Manpower reaching militarily significant age annually: male: 1,606,963 female: 1,689,442 (2010 est.) Military expenditures: 1.3% of GDP (2009) country comparison to the world: 113

Disputes - international: Bangladesh referred its maritime boundary claims with Burma and India to the  International Tribunal on the Law of the Sea; discussions with India remain  stalled to delimit a small section of river boundary,  exchange territory for 51 small Bangladeshi exclaves in India and 111 small   Indian exclaves in Bangladesh, allocate divided villages, and stop illegal cross- border trade, migration, violence, and transit of terrorists through the porous  border; Bangladesh protests India's fencing and walling-off high-traffic sections  of  the porous boundary; a joint Bangladesh-India boundary commission agreed to fully demarcate the Bangladesh-India boundary in the Dhubri-Kruigram sector;  the Naf river on the border with Burma serves as a smuggling and illegal transit route; Bangladesh struggles to accommodate 29,000 Rohingya, Burmese  Muslim minority from Arakan State, living as refugees in Cox's Bazar; Burmese border authorities are constructing a 200 km (124 mi) wire fence designed to deter illegal cross-border transit and tensions from the military build-up along border Refugees and internally displaced persons: refugees (country of origin): 26,268 (Burma) IDPs: 65,000 (land conflicts, religious persecution) (2007) Trafficking in persons: current situation: Bangladesh is a source and transit country for men, women, and children trafficked for the purposes of forced labor and commercial sexual exploitation; a significant share of Bangladesh's trafficking victims are men recruited for work overseas with fraudulent employment offers who are  subsequently exploited under  conditions of forced labor or debt bondage; children are trafficked within Bangladesh for commercial sexual exploitation, bonded labor,  and forced labor; women and children from Bangladesh are also trafficked to India  and Pakistan for sexual exploitation tier rating: Bangladesh is placed on Tier 2 Watch List because it does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however,  it is making significant efforts to do so, including some progress in addressing sex trafficking; the government did not demonstrate sufficient progress in criminally prosecuting and convicting labor trafficking offenders, particularly  those  responsible for the recruitment of  Bangladeshi workers for the purpose of labor trafficking (2009) Illicit drugs: transit country for illegal drugs produced in neighboring countries.  Tanim Prodhan