Bangladesh started its journey in 1972 with a per capita income of 91 dollars. After 52 years of independence, the per capita income of the country is now two thousand 765 dollars.
About 30 times more than in 1972.
The country’s per capita income has sometimes increased and sometimes decreased in this development journey. It has increased the most in the last 15 years of the Awami League government.
According to official data, the per capita income increased by about 204 percent from 1972 to 1975 during the tenure of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the father of the nation, in war-torn Bangladesh after independence. In 1972, the per capita income of the country was 91 US dollars. Until 1975, this income increased more than 3 times to 277 dollars.
After the killing of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and his family in 1976, the per capita income of the country decreased to 132 dollars. Per capita income fell by about 52 percent, a jump from the trend of incremental improvement. The following year in 1977, the per capita income further decreased to $123.
After 1975, with illegal military rule and political instability, the growth of per capita income stopped in the following years.
The per capita income left by Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman had to wait till 1990 to reach 277 US dollars. In 1990, the per capita income of the country was 294 US dollars. In 1991, the per capita income of the country decreased again to 283 dollars.
After the assassination of the father of the nation in 1975, till 1991, the per capita income of Bangladesh increased by only 6 US dollars. Military rulers Ziaur Rahman and Hussain Muhammad Ershad were in power almost all the time.
Since 1991, the country’s per capita income has gradually increased. From 1991 to 2001, the per capita income of the country increased by 127 dollars. In 2001, the per capita income of the country was 410 dollars. Later, from 2001-2006, per capita income increased to only 93 US dollars.
When Awami League came to power in 2009, the per capita income of the country was 686 US dollars. In the following years, the per capita income of the country continued to increase by leaps and bounds. The highest increase was 424 USD in 2016. At that time, the per capita income of the country was 1 thousand 660 US dollars.
