Food security declined, inequality deepened and poverty rose in Bangladesh in the last five years resulting from twin shocks of corona-virus pandemic and price spiral, said South Asian Network on Economic Modeling (SANEM).
People who live in urban areas have been more impacted than those in the rural areas, said the think-tank based on finding of a country-wide survey on 9,000 households in October- November - 2023
The survey found the urban poverty rates increased from 16.3 percent to 18.7 percent between 2018 and 2023.
Data from Household Income and Expenditure Survey (HIES) of Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) earlier published in 2022 was not so strong as the price hike shock was not as severe as it was in 2023, said Prof Selim Raihan, executive director of the SANEM.
He made the comments as he presented the survey results of the SANEM at a session of the 7th edition of the SANEM Annual Economists Conference (SAEC) at the Brac Centre Inn on Saturday.
However, the national poverty rate was almost unchanged during the five-year period on the back of a fall in poverty rates in rural areas. It was 20.7 percent last year compared to 21.6 percent in 2018.
Bangladesh lowered poverty at a rate of 3 percent per year between 1990 and 2016. However, this momentum was impacted by the pandemic as many lost livelihoods and slipped below the poverty line because of nationwide lockdowns to limit the spread of the deadly virus.
The price shock in the post-pandemic period might be the contributing factor to recent stagnation in poverty reduction process, Prof Raihan said. In all indicators, food insecurity rose and the severity of insecurity was higher in urban areas than in the countryside.
"It is very alarming," he said. During the pandemic, around 60 percent of the surveyed households faced challenges related to employment and earnings.
Price of essentials was also another major challenge which caused involuntary changes to dietary patterns of a third of the people forcing them to borrowing.
In the post-pandemic scenario, more than 85 percent of households was affected by the current price spike to impact their livelihoods. In the last five years, inequality also widened.
The youth rate of NEET (not in employment, education, or training) has increased for both males and females, the think-tank said. The NEETs are a group of population aged 15-24.
The Sanem said 15 percent of school-aged children, ranging from five years to 15 years, were out of education in 2023 while it was 13 percent five years earlier.
The Sanem found that one-third of migrant workers who returned permanently remained unemployed in 2023.
The access to healthcare also worsened last year amid price shocks: 7.2 percent of the population could not access healthcare in 2023, way higher than 1.7 percent in 2018.
The Consumer Price Index rose 9.02 percent in FY23 against the governments revised target of 7.5 percent. This was the highest average inflation rate in 12 years, according to the BBS.
Based on the findings, the Sanem proposed an overhaul of social security support programmes for the poor and vulnerable poor, particularly in the urban areas.
