Private sector investment as a share of gross domestic product (GDP) has fallen to its lowest level in the past decade. It now stands at just 22.03 per cent of GDP, the lowest in 10 years. The contribution of private investment to GDP has been declining for four consecutive years.

The Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) recently published the final estimates of GDP and investment for fiscal year 2024–25. The data reveal this disappointing trend in private investment relative to GDP. The last time private investment fell to such a level was in fiscal year 2014–15.

For several years, private investment compared to GDP had remained stagnant. It declined further in the past fiscal year, which coincided with a period of mass uprising. During July and August 2024, blockades and curfews amid the mass movement brought economic activities nearly to a standstill. The overall environment was not conducive to investment, and the impact was felt throughout the fiscal year.

According to BBS data, GDP growth in 2024–25 was only 3.49 per cent, close to the rate recorded in the first year of the coronavirus pandemic (fiscal year 2019–20). That year, growth stood at 3.45 per cent, the lowest in the past two decades.