GDP growth drops to 2.22% in third quarter, industry and services hit hard

Bangladesh's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth fell to 2.22 percent in the third quarter (January-March) of the 2025-26 fiscal year, down from 4.53 percent in the same period of the previous fiscal year.

The Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) released the quarterly GDP figures on Sunday (July 20).

According to BBS data, GDP growth in the first and second quarters of the current fiscal year was 4.96 percent and 3.03 percent respectively. In the same two quarters of the previous fiscal year, growth was 3.91 percent and 3.53 percent.

At current prices, the size of the country's GDP in the third quarter of 2025-26 stood at Tk 15,391 billion, compared to Tk 14,192 billion in the same period last year.

In sectoral terms, agriculture growth fell to 1.74 percent, down from 4.61 percent a year ago.

The biggest blow came to the industry sector. Growth in this sector dropped from 3.33 percent to negative 0.28 percent.

Meanwhile, the services sector also saw a significant decline. Growth in this sector was 3.52 percent in the third quarter, down from 7.32 percent in the same period of the previous fiscal year.