Dissemination of National Survey Findings on State of the Real Economy

On August 25, 2025, the Power and Participation Research Centre (PPRC) convened policymakers, researchers, journalists, and citizens at a national dissemination event in Dhaka to share findings from its latest national survey, State of the Real Economy: Household Realities and Policy Options Towards Strengthening Economic Democracy. Dr. Hossain Zillur Rahman, Executive Chairman of PPRC, presented the findings, emphasizing the need to move beyond a macroeconomic lens and place people’s lived realities at the center of policymaking.

The State of the Real Economy study was undertaken as a timely national response to capture household realities in a period of heightened uncertainty. Following the July 2024 Uprising, which brought political change and raised public expectations of economic welfare, concerns grew over persistent inflation and economic disruptions at the household level. While urgent policy measures focused on stabilizing the macroeconomic scenario, attention to the microeconomic – household-level – realities was hampered by the absence of updated national data beyond 2022.

To fill this critical gap, the Finance Division of the Ministry of Finance commissioned PPRC through a competitive process to carry out a comprehensive national survey. Leveraging its strong track record of rapid response surveys after the 2008 global financial crisis, the 2015 political crisis, and the Covid-19 pandemic, and with an updated MoU with BBS, PPRC designed and implemented a large-scale household survey across 8,067 households nationwide. Using stratified two-stage cluster sampling and CAPI-based interviews, the study generated nationally representative insights into household realities one year after the uprising, covering income, employment, expenditure, financial capacity, safety nets, remittance flows, digital participation, and aspirations.

Findings highlight a reversal in poverty reduction, new vulnerabilities such as the growing burden of chronic illness and food insecurity, and an emerging “employment emergency” with high levels of underemployment and stagnant female labour force participation. At the same time, the survey documents sources of resilience — remittances, digital preparedness, consumer vibrancy, and adaptive household strategies — that underscore both fragility and potential.

Researchers: Dr. Hossain Zillur Rahman; Dr. Syed M. Hashemi; Mohammad Abdul Wazed; Md. Golam Rabbani; Namira Shameem; Mohammad Ihtesham Hassan; Mahjabin Rashid Lamisha; Billal Hossain; Masudul Huq; Enumerators Team

Key Highlights

Continuity of Crises: From Covid (2020–22) to inflation (2023) to political uncertainty (2024–25).
Poverty Reversal: Poverty rose to 9.35% (LPL) and 27.93% (UPL), reversing earlier gains.
New Vulnerabilities:
- 51% of households report a chronically ill member.
- Nearly a quarter of extreme poor households are female-headed.
- The bottom 40% hold debts at least double their savings.
- 12% skipped meals last week; 9% of the poorest went a day without food last month.
- 36% of households still lack sanitary toilets.
Employment Emergency: 38% of those employed are underemployed; female labour force participation stagnant at 26%.
Resilience Factors:
- 15% of households receive remittances averaging BDT 29,000/month.
- Strong domestic consumer market worth USD 211 billion
- 74% of households (80% with youth) own smartphones.
- Families are adapting energy use to cope with rising costs
National Mood: A class divide in optimism—62% of the richest are hopeful, while a third of the poorest are pessimistic. Overall, 54% remain cautiously optimistic

The survey results paint a sobering but vital picture of the country’s economic transition. They highlight not only the new vulnerabilities households face but also the resilience and aspirations that continue to shape Bangladesh’s path forward.

Watch the full dissemination here.

Presentation Deck

PPT_25 Aug_Final_PPRC_Real Economy Download

Rahman, H. Z., Hashemi, S. M., Wazed, M. A., Rabbani, M. G., Shameem, N., Hassan, M. I., Lamisha, M. R., Hossain, B., & Huq, M. (2025, August 25). The state of the real economy: Findings from a national household survey [PowerPoint slides]. PPRC.