GDP growth accelerates to 3.68% in FY26

The country’s GDP growth accelerated to 3.68 percent in the 2025-26 fiscal year, driven mainly by stronger performances in the industrial and services sectors in the fourth quarter, according to provisional estimates by the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS).

GDP growth at constant prices stood at 4.60 percent in the fourth quarter of FY26, sharply up from 2.05 percent in the same quarter of FY25, according to the provisional GDP estimates.

In the first three quarters of FY26, GDP growth was estimated at 4.96 percent, 3.03 percent and 2.22 percent, respectively, compared to 3.91 percent, 3.53 percent and 4.53 percent in the corresponding quarters of FY25.

At current prices, the size of the GDP stood at Tk 16,116.743 billion in the fourth quarter of FY26, compared to Tk 14,385.272 billion in the same quarter of FY25.

The industrial sector recorded the strongest growth among the three major sectors in the fourth quarter, expanding by 6.52 percent at constant prices, compared to just 0.92 percent in the same quarter of FY25.

However, industrial growth was uneven during the year. It stood at 6.82 percent in the first quarter, 1.27 percent in the second quarter and contracted 0.28 percent in the third quarter of FY26.

In FY25, industrial growth in the first three quarters was 4.80 percent, 5.78 percent and 3.33 percent, respectively.

The services sector grew by 4.28 percent in the fourth quarter of FY26, compared to 2.26 percent in the same quarter of the previous fiscal year.

Services growth in the first three quarters of FY26 was estimated at 4.51 percent, 4.45 percent and 3.52 percent, compared to 4.49 percent, 3.48 percent and 7.32 percent in the corresponding quarters of FY25.

The agriculture sector, however, recorded slower growth in the fourth quarter.

Agriculture grew by 1.73 percent in the fourth quarter of FY26, compared with 3.19 percent in the same quarter of FY25.

The sector’s growth in the first three quarters of FY26 was estimated at 2.11 percent, 3.68 percent and 1.74 percent, compared with -0.12 percent, 1.90 percent and 4.61 percent in the corresponding quarters of FY25.

The provisional figures show that the economy gained momentum in the final quarter of FY26, mainly on the back of a stronger industrial performance and improved growth in services. -UNB