Background

With over 140 million people crowded into an area the size of Iowa, Bangladesh has the highest population density of any country, except city-states such as Singapore.
• Bangladesh has experienced fairly robust economic growth during the last
decade, which saw the restoration of a democratically elected government and a steady, albeit slow, liberalization of the economy.
• For the past 15 years, Bangladesh has seen trend growth in annual real GDP of around five percent. Real GDP growth for FY2005 (ended June 30) is provisionally reported as 5.38%. These growth rates, however, fall short of the
estimated 7-9% annual real GDP growth needed to significantly reduce the poverty that afflicts one in three Bangladeshis.
• Inflation rates have continued to rise, averaging 6.48% FY2005 (Source:
Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics).
• U.S. exports to Bangladesh in ten months (January-October 2005) were 276.4 million, while imports from Bangladesh during this period were $2.25 billion. (Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Foreign Trade Division, Data Dissemination Branch, Washington, D.C. 20233)
• An estimated eight million Bangladeshis have annual incomes well in excess of $10,000. Heavily concentrated in Dhaka and Chittagong, they represent a sizable market for a wide range of goods and services.