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Staff Correspondent: Bangladesh’s economic growth slowed sharply in the third quarter (January-March) of fiscal year 2025-26, with Gross Domestic Product (GDP) expanding by 2.22 percent, reflecting weaker performance across all major sectors, particularly industry, according to provisional estimates released by the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) on Monday.
The quarterly GDP (QGDP) estimates showed the economy grew at less than half the pace recorded a year earlier, when growth stood at 4.53 percent in the corresponding quarter of FY2024-25.
At current prices, Bangladesh’s GDP rose to Tk 15.39 trillion during the January-March period from Tk 14.19 trillion in the same quarter of the previous fiscal year.
The latest figures indicate a steady deceleration in economic activity during FY26. GDP growth stood at 4.96 percent in the first quarter (July-September) before easing to 3.03 percent in the second quarter (October-December) and slowing further to 2.22 percent in the third quarter.
As a result, cumulative GDP growth during the first nine months (July-March) of the fiscal year reached 3.63 percent, down from 3.99 percent recorded during the corresponding period of FY25.
The BBS said the quarterly GDP estimates have been prepared in line with internationally accepted statistical standards to provide more frequent assessments of economic performance and support timely policy formulation.
Bangladesh has been publishing quarterly GDP estimates regularly since FY24, while historical quarterly data covering FY16 to FY23 were generated using a backcasting methodology.
The latest data point to a broad-based slowdown across the economy, with the industry sector slipping into contraction during the third quarter.
The agriculture sector recorded a modest 1.74 percent growth during January-March, compared with 4.61 percent in the same period of the previous fiscal year. The sector had expanded by 2.11 percent in the first quarter and 3.68 percent in the second quarter of FY26.
The industry sector, traditionally the main driver of Bangladesh’s economic growth, contracted by 0.28 percent in the third quarter, reversing the 3.33 percent growth recorded in the corresponding quarter of FY25. Earlier in the fiscal year, industry had grown by 6.82 percent in the first quarter before slowing sharply to 1.27 percent in the second.
Meanwhile, the services sector maintained positive growth but also lost momentum. It expanded by 3.52 percent during the January-March quarter, significantly lower than the 7.32 percent growth registered in the same period a year earlier.
Services had posted growth of 4.51 percent in the first quarter and 4.45 percent in the second quarter of FY26.
The latest quarterly estimates suggest Bangladesh’s economy continued to face headwinds during the third quarter, with weakening industrial output and slower growth in agriculture and services weighing on overall economic performance.
The provisional figures will contribute to the BBS’s compilation of the country’s annual national accounts and provide policymakers with an updated picture of economic trends as the fiscal year approaches its final quarter.