The average monthly income of a person in the country is Tk 7 614 now. This income has almost doubled in a span of six years. In 2016, the average income of a person was Tk 3 940.
Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) Khana Income and Expenditure Survey 2022 final report has revealed this figure. This report was published on Sunday. Earlier, the preliminary results were released last April.
According to the BBS report, the income of city people is much higher than that of village people. The average monthly income of a person in the city is Tk 10951 and the income of village people is close to half, Tk 6 091.
Not everyone in a family earns and there are children, old people and women who cannot work for practical reasons. But a family can have one or more earners. The average income of these earners is also given in the survey. The average income of earners is Tk 25 707. 6 years ago its amount was Tk13 646 taka. This calculation is based on the income of the earner only.
How much is the monthly income of a family, how much is the expenditure, it is said in the household income and expenditure survey. According to BBS, the average number of members of a Khana or family in Bangladesh is 4.26. The monthly income of that family is Tk 32422 taka. An average of Tk 31,500 is spent per month. A family spends an average of 14 thousand 3 rupees per month on food.
In this regard, BBS Deputy Director and Director of Household Income and Expenditure Survey Project Mohiuddin Ahmed told Prothom Alo that the initial results were the same in the original report. This time only a little detail is said. In the last six years, there has been a change in the income-expenditure due to the change in the socio-economic conditions.
At the same time, the wealth of the rich has become more concentrated. Income inequality also appears to have become more pronounced. It has been seen that the richest 10% of the country’s total income is about 41%. In 2016, this rate of income was 39. However, the income share of the poorest 10 percent has increased slightly. Now 1.31 percent of the country’s total income is in their hands. 8 years ago this rate was 1.002.
Now the overall poverty rate is 18.7. 6 years ago i.e. in 2016 the poverty rate was 24.3. The rate of extreme poverty in the country is 5.6 decimals. 6 years ago this rate was 12.9.
For so long there was a common perception that poverty is more in North Bengal. But BBS says, the highest poverty is in Barisal division. The poverty rate in this category is 26.9. And the least in neighboring Khulna division. The poverty rate in this category is 14.8.
