Relative poverty: Share of population below 50% of the median in Bangladesh
Bangladesh: Relative poverty: Share of population below 50% of the median was 6.8% in 2022. ▲ Rising
Relative poverty: Share of population below 50% of the median in Bangladesh, 1983–2022
Source: World Bank Poverty and Inequality Platform (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in %.
Analysis
Bangladesh recorded 6.8% for relative poverty: share of population below 50% of the median in 2022. That is the highest value across all 10 years on record.
The figure is up 34.0% over ten years.
Over the whole period, relative poverty: share of population below 50% of the median in Bangladesh peaked at 6.8% in 2022 and was at its lowest, 3.5%, in 1985.
That places Bangladesh 106th out of 120 countries with data for 2022, putting it in the bottom quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 10 years of available data.
Relative poverty: Share of population below 50% of the median in Bangladesh, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1983 | 6.8% | — |
| 1985 | 3.5% | -47.7% |
| 1988 | 5.4% | +53.5% |
| 1991 | 5.5% | +2.1% |
| 1995 | 5.1% | -8.4% |
| 2000 | 5.2% | +2.9% |
| 2005 | 4.3% | -18.4% |
| 2010 | 5.1% | +19.4% |
| 2016 | 6.2% | +21.4% |
| 2022 | 6.8% | +10.4% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980s | 5.2% | 3.5% | 6.8% | 3 |
| 1990s | 5.3% | 5.1% | 5.5% | 2 |
| 2000s | 4.7% | 4.3% | 5.2% | 2 |
| 2010s | 5.6% | 5.1% | 6.2% | 2 |
| 2020s | 6.8% | 6.8% | 6.8% | 1 |
Countries ranked near Bangladesh
More poverty & inequality data for Bangladesh
- Number of income/consumption surveys in the past decade available via the World Bank 2 surveys (2025)
- Number of income/consumption surveys in the past decade available via 0 surveys per person (2025)
- Number of income/consumption surveys in the past decade available via 0 surveys per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Fertility rate vs. share living in extreme poverty 2.16 live births per woman (2023)
- Cereal yield vs. share in extreme poverty 5,408 kg per hectare (2024)
- Cereal yield vs extreme poverty, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2024)
- Cereal yield vs extreme poverty, annual growth rate 1.64 % change on previous year (2024)
- Tax revenues vs income inequality, gaps filled 7.29 (2023)
- Tax revenue as share of GDP vs. income inequality 7.3% (2023)
- Tax revenues vs income inequality, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2023)
Frequently asked questions
- What is relative poverty: share of population below 50% of the median in Bangladesh?
- Relative poverty: share of population below 50% of the median in Bangladesh was 6.8% in 2022, according to World Bank Poverty and Inequality Platform (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest relative poverty: share of population below 50% of the median recorded in Bangladesh?
- The highest recorded value was 6.8% in 2022.
- What is the lowest relative poverty: share of population below 50% of the median recorded in Bangladesh?
- The lowest recorded value was 3.5% in 1985.
- How does Bangladesh rank for relative poverty: share of population below 50% of the median?
- Bangladesh ranks 106th out of 120 countries with data for 2022.
- Is relative poverty: share of population below 50% of the median rising or falling in Bangladesh?
- Over the last ten years it is up 34.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Bangladesh data come from?
- The figures come from World Bank Poverty and Inequality Platform (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Relative poverty: Share of population below 50% of the median. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 10 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Percentage of population living in households with an income or consumption below 50% of the median.