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PPRC book highlights 31 million people’s vulnerability to poverty

About 31 million people in Bangladesh were vulnerable to falling into poverty, according to survey findings highlighted at the launch of a Power and Participation Research Centre book in Dhaka on Saturday. The publication, State of

From 18 October 2026 — Daily Brief

About 31 million people in Bangladesh were vulnerable to falling into poverty, according to survey findings highlighted at the launch of a Power and Participation Research Centre book in Dhaka on Saturday.

The publication, State of the Real Economy: Dynamics of Reversals and Resilience in Bangladesh, draws on a survey of 8,067 households across all eight divisions conducted in May 2025. The figures describe that survey period, not a new measurement of conditions in October 2026.

The study estimated poverty at 27.93 percent and extreme poverty at 9.35 percent. A further 17.97 percent of households were above the poverty line but below median expenditure, a group the researchers described as vulnerable to an economic shock.

Average monthly household income was Tk32,685 against spending of Tk32,615, leaving a narrow average surplus. This is a survey-wide mean, not an identical balance for every family.

At the CIRDAP Auditorium launch, PPRC executive chairman Hossain Zillur Rahman linked household hardship to employment and healthcare problems, rising debt and weak investment. He argued for coordinated economic reforms rather than treating those pressures as a temporary slowdown. The figures are PPRC’s research estimates, not a newly issued government poverty count.

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Business & Economy

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Business & Economy

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