Supply/Demand Basics
- World’s fifth largest market in fish cultivation and fishing industry is growing.
- According to industry estimates, fish production will reach 5.02 MMT by 2020-21, demand for feed for aquaculture will increase.
- Rice is by far the main agricultural product.
- Poultry sector has grown significantly in recent years and is now using newer technology.
Country Overview
- Population / growth: 161.3 million / 1.07%
- Urban % / growth: 33.5% / 2.5%
- GDP / growth (PPP): $831.7 billion / 8.3%
- GDP per capita (PPP): $4,992
- Bangladesh is the most densely populated country in the world with 1,000 people per square kilometer.
- Bangladesh faces daunting socioeconomic challenges with about 24 million people still living below the poverty line.
Trade and Market Share Overview
- Bangladesh imports 1.4 MMT of crude oil, which is converted to gasoline and other petroleum products. Demand for gasoline is increasing at 11% per year.
- Total corn imports for the period May-Dec 2018 was 1.2 MMT, slightly higher than imports (1.18 MMT) in the same period the previous year.
- More than 90 percent of corn is imported from Brazil, due to competitive pricing and lesser credit issues than with U.S. origin.
- Infrastructure in Bangladesh is insufficient and in poor condition:
- Lack of a deep-water port leads to long unloading times, which causes issues for imports of temperature-sensitive products with short shelf lives.
Policy Overview
- All U.S. products have access to the market but face high tariffs.
- Bangladesh’s business environment is difficult – corruption is endemic in the country and it scores extremely low on the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business Index, ranking 177 out of 190 countries.
