The number of economic units in Bangladesh has increased by nearly 40.6 lakh to 11,877,364 during the last 11 years with a higher growth in rural areas and in service sector.
Among them, 6,288,214 are permanent economic units, 576,621 are temporary units, and 5,012,529 are households engaged in economic activities, according to the preliminary report of the Economic Census 2024 unveiled on Wednesday by the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS).
In 2013, the total number of economic units was 7,818,565. Of these, 4,514,091 were permanent, 482,903 were temporary, and 2,821,571 were households involved in economic activities.
Wahiduddin Mahmud, Advisor for Planning and Education, and KAS Murshid, Chairman of the Economic Task Force were present at the event.
According to the report, economic unit growth has been higher in rural areas than in urban centers. Currently, there are 5,531,203 economic units in urban areas, up from 2,229,546 a decade ago—an increase of 1,301,657 units.
Meanwhile, the number of economic units in rural areas has reached 8,346,161 in the 2024 census, compared to 5,589,019 in the 2023 survey—an increase of 2,857,142 units.
The report further states that only 8.77% of the total economic units belong to the industrial sector, while the rest are engaged in the services sector.
Besides, job opportunities in rural areas have shrunk over the last 11 years since 2013 thanks to a lack of growth in non-farm activities, it showed.
The census reveals that 56.82 percent of 3.07 crore people were engaged in economic activity in rural areas in 2024, down from 61.23 percent in 2013.
On the other hand, urban areas have created more economic opportunities since 2013.
The BBS reported that 43.18 percent of people were engaged in economic activity in urban areas in 2024, up from around 39 percent in 2013.
In urban areas, the number of people involved in economic activity stood at 1.32 crore in 2024, with Dhaka Division accounting for 89 percent of the total.
The BBS found that 70.27 percent of economic units operate in rural areas, while 29.73 percent are located in urban areas.
Chattogram ranked second, followed by Rajshahi. Dhaka Division hosts the highest number of economic units, totaling 32.1 lakh, contributing 27.03 percent of the total in 2024, up from 24.23 percent in 2013.
