The Education and Primary and Mass Education Minister, ANM Ehsanul Hoque Milon, said on Thursday that the share of education in the gross domestic product (GDP) within the national budget for the financial year 2026–27 will be increased to 2 per cent.

‘We wanted 3.5 per cent,’ he said, adding that prime minister Tarique Rahman had assured them that the budget allocation for the education sector will be gradually increased to 5 per cent.

The minister made the remarks while speaking to journalists at the Bangladesh Secretariat.

The announcement comes as the share of education in GDP fell for the sixth consecutive year.

In the outgoing financial year 2025–26, the share of education in GDP stood at 1.53 per cent. This follows a steady decline from 1.69 per cent in FY2024–25, 1.76 per cent in FY2023–24, 1.83 per cent in FY2022–23, 2.08 per cent in FY2021–22, 2.09 per cent in FY2020–21, and 2.11 per cent in FY2019–20.