World Bank2012-06-122012-06-122008-10https://hdl.handle.net/10986/7886Bangladesh represents a success story among developing countries. Poverty incidence, which was as high as 57 percent at the beginning of the 1990s, had declined to 49 percent in 2000. This trend accelerated subsequently, reducing the poverty headcount rate to 40 percent in 2005. The primary contributing factor was robust and stable economic growth along with no worsening of inequality. Respectable GDP growth that started at the beginning of the 1990s continued into the new millennium and averaged above 5 percent annually between 2000 and 2005. Inequality, as measured by the Gini coefficient of consumption, remained stable between 2000 and 2005. Recent shocks to the Bangladeshi economy in the form of natural disasters and rising food prices have partially dampened the rapid progress in reducing poverty. The year 2007 saw two natural disasters, floods and a devastating cyclone within a few months of each other. Another significant shock has been the steep rise in food prices, including the main staple, rice, which has revealed the risk posed by global price volatility for a net food-importing country like Bangladesh. Estimates in this report suggest that the impact of the food price shock has likely negated some of the reduction in poverty brought about by economic growth between 2005 and 2008. Specific areas for policy focus which are elaborated in the report include measures to: (i) promote growth by sustaining increases in labor productivity and job creation in manufacturing and services; (ii) expand opportunities in lagging regions by improving connectivity with growth poles and investing in human capital; (iii) facilitate migration from poor areas given the poverty-reducing impact of remittances; (iv) stimulate women's participation in the labor force (v) sustain Bangladesh's past successes in reducing fertility; (vi) improve poor households access to and quality of education, health, and nutrition services; and (vii) strengthen the coordination, targeting, and coverage of safety net programs.en-USCC BY 3.0 IGOABSOLUTE INEQUALITYACCESS TO EDUCATIONACCESS TO MARKETSADVERSE IMPACTSAGE MORTALITYAGGREGATE POVERTYAGRICULTURAL EMPLOYMENTAGRICULTURAL PRODUCTIVITYAGRICULTURAL SEASONAGRICULTURAL SECTORAGRICULTURAL WAGEAVERAGE GROWTHBASELINE POVERTY RATEBASIC INFRASTRUCTUREBASIC NEEDSCASH TRANSFER PROGRAMSCASH TRANSFERSCHANGES IN POVERTYCHILD DELIVERYCHILD MORTALITYCHRONIC POVERTYCOMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONSCONCENTRATION OF POPULATIONCONSUMPTION BASKETCONSUMPTION EXPENDITURECONSUMPTION EXPENDITURESCONSUMPTION PER CAPITACONSUMPTION POVERTYCREDIT ACCESSCROP PRODUCTIONCUMULATIVE DISTRIBUTIONDAILY WAGEDECLINE IN FERTILITYDECLINE IN POVERTYDEMOGRAPHIC TRANSITIONDEPENDENCY RATIODETERMINANTS OF POVERTYDEVELOPING COUNTRIESDIMENSIONS OF POVERTYDISEASESDISSEMINATIONDIVERSIFICATIONECONOMIC GROWTHECONOMIC OPPORTUNITIESECONOMIC SHOCKSECONOMIC STATUSEDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENTEMPLOYMENT GENERATIONEMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIESENROLMENT RATESEXTREME POOR HOUSEHOLDSEXTREME POVERTYEXTREME POVERTY LINEFAMILY PLANNINGFARMERSFEMALE LABOR FORCEFEMALE PARTICIPATIONFERTILITYFERTILITY RATEFOOD INTAKEFOOD ITEMSFOOD PRICEFOOD PRICESFOOD TRANSFERSFUTURE GENERATIONSGENDER DIMENSIONSGENDER GAPGENDER PARITYGINI INDEXHEALTH CAREHEALTH PROGRAMSHEALTH SERVICESHOUSEHOLD BUDGETHOUSEHOLD COMPOSITIONHOUSEHOLD CONSUMPTIONHOUSEHOLD HEADHOUSEHOLD HEADSHOUSEHOLD INCOMEHOUSEHOLD INCOMESHOUSEHOLD SIZEHOUSEHOLD SURVEYSHOUSEHOLD WELFAREHOUSINGHUMAN CAPACITYHUMAN CAPITALHUMAN DEVELOPMENTILLNESSESIMMUNIZATIONIMPACT OF SHOCKSIMPACT ON POVERTYINCOMEINCOME DISTRIBUTIONINCOME GENERATIONINCOME GROWTHINCOME POVERTYINCOME SUPPORTINEQUALITYINFANTINTERNATIONAL MIGRATIONJOB CREATIONLABOR FORCELABOR MARKETLABOR MARKETSLACK OF INFRASTRUCTURELAND OWNERSHIPLIVESTOCK OWNERSHIPLOCAL GOVERNMENTSMALNUTRITIONMATERNAL HEALTHMEDICAL TREATMENTMIGRANTMIGRANT WORKERSMIGRATIONMILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALMILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALSNATIONAL POPULATIONNATIONAL POVERTYNATIONAL POVERTY HEADCOUNTNATIONAL POVERTY LINENATURAL DISASTERNATURAL DISASTERSNEGATIVE HEALTH CONSEQUENCESPER CAPITA CONSUMPTIONPER CAPITA EXPENDITUREPOORPOOR AREASPOOR CHILDRENPOOR GAPPOOR HEALTHPOOR PEOPLEPOOR PEOPLESPOOR POPULATIONPOOR WOMENPOPULATION CONTROLPOPULATION GROWTHPOPULATION GROWTH RATEPOPULATION GROWTH RATESPOPULATION SHAREPOPULATION SHIFTSPOVERTY ASSESSMENTPOVERTY CHANGESPOVERTY ESTIMATESPOVERTY GAPPOVERTY HEADCOUNT RATEPOVERTY HEADCOUNT RATESPOVERTY IMPACTPOVERTY INCIDENCEPOVERTY LEVELPOVERTY LINEPOVERTY LINESPOVERTY MEASUREMENTPOVERTY MEASURESPOVERTY POVERTYPOVERTY RATESPOVERTY REDUCINGPOVERTY REDUCTIONPRACTITIONERSPROGRESSPUBLIC EDUCATIONPUBLIC HEALTHPUBLIC HEALTH EXPENDITUREPUBLIC SERVICEPUBLIC SPENDINGREDUCTION IN POVERTYREMITTANCEREMITTANCESREMOTE AREASREPEATED SHOCKSRESPECTRISING CONSUMPTIONRURALRURAL AREASRURAL DIFFERENCESRURAL GAPRURAL GAPSRURAL HOUSEHOLDSRURAL POPULATIONRURAL POVERTYRURAL POVERTY RATERURAL POVERTY REDUCTIONSAFETY NETSAFETY NET PROGRAMSSAFETY NET SYSTEMSAFETY NETSSANITATIONSECONDARY EDUCATIONSECONDARY ENROLMENTSECONDARY SCHOOLSECONDARY SCHOOLINGSELF-EMPLOYMENTSERVICE PROVISIONSERVICE UTILIZATIONSLOWING POPULATION GROWTHSOCIAL NORMSSOCIAL PROTECTIONSOCIAL TRANSFORMATIONSOCIAL TRANSFORMATIONSSPILLOVERSUBSISTENCESUBSISTENCE FARMERSTARGETINGURBAN AREASURBAN CENTERSURBAN POPULATIONURBAN POVERTYURBANIZATIONVICIOUS CYCLEVULNERABILITYVULNERABLE GROUPSWAGE GROWTHWELFARE INDICATORSWELFARE MEASUREWORKFORCEWorld Bank10.1596/7886