Bangladesh inequality on the rise thanks to climate change, Covid, inflation: UN expert

Olivier De Schutter, UN special rapporteur on poverty and human rights, said the country has millions of ‘new poor’, hovering just above bread line

Bangladesh is set to graduate from the UN’s least developed country status in 2026, which could mean losing preferential access to overseas markets

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Garment workers during a lunch break in Dhaka. Bangladesh remains dangerously dependent on its ready-made garment industry, which accounts for some 82 per cent of export revenues. Photo: Reuters

Published: 10:01am, 30 May 2023Updated: 3:01pm, 30 May 2023

Bangladesh must focus on reducing income inequality as climate change, high inflation and the persistent effects of the pandemic have sank millions into the ranks of the “new poor”, according to a United Nations poverty expert.

Extreme poverty in Bangladesh was cut from 34 per cent in 2000 to 13 per cent in 2016, according to World Bank data.

But that progress does not show the complete picture of poverty in a country of nearly 170 million with the increased cost of living deepening inequality, said Olivier De Schutter, the UN special rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights.

De Schutter told This Week in Asia a category of “new poor” had emerged in Bangladesh, of households hovering just above the poverty line, possessing scant savings and at high risk of falling below it in the event of an unexpected job loss or medical bill.

People rest near shanty homes in Dhalpur, in Bangladesh’s capital Dhaka. Photo: Emdadul Islam Bitu

“This is a result of very high inflation rates in the country … the cost of living has also gone up by 8-9 per cent,” he said. “This is set to disproportionately impact the poor, chipping away at low incomes and creating food insecurity and debt.”