The Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) has begun the process of rebasing the country’s gross domestic product (GDP), a major statistical overhaul aimed at capturing the rapidly evolving economy by incorporating new sectors, updating economic weights, and aligning national accounts with the latest international standards.
Officials at the country's national statistical agency say the exercise would adopt the fiscal year 2025-26 as the new base year, replacing the current 2015-16 benchmark.
The revision is expected to provide a more accurate measure of the size and structure of the economy, which has undergone significant transformation over the past decade.
"We have launched the GDP rebasing work," a senior BBS official told The Financial Express on Thursday.
The official said field surveys and data collection had already begun in several key sectors, including real estate, residential housing, and non-residential buildings.
More than 20 additional surveys will be required before the statistical agency can compile the revised national accounts.
The BBS has yet to announce when the revised GDP series will be published, as the exercise will require the completion of extensive nationwide surveys, data validation, and methodological reviews before the new estimates are finalised.
But the official said the rebasing adjustments would be seen in the 2028-29 fiscal year, adding, "Actually, at least two years are needed to complete the rebasing works."
GDP rebasing is a routine statistical exercise undertaken roughly every 10 years to ensure that national accounts reflect changes in production patterns, consumer behaviour, and the emergence of new industries.
The process updates the relative importance - or weights - of different sectors in the economy while incorporating economic activities that may have been previously undercounted or excluded.
The exercise will follow the internationally recognised System of National Accounts (SNA 2025), developed jointly by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the United Nations (UN), the World Bank (WB), the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), and the European Commission.
The framework requires countries to periodically revise their national accounts to improve comparability and statistical accuracy.
The SNA's newly updated focus includes the digital economy, globalisation, including global value chains, and the informal economy.
Besides, SNA expands the framework to directly address the measurement of well-being, sustainability, and Islamic finance.
Economists say the revision is particularly important for the country whose economy has diversified rapidly over the past decade through the expansion of digital commerce, information technology services, logistics, financial technology, modern retail, real estate, new agricultural products, and other service industries that are not fully reflected in the existing GDP series.
The BBS projected the country's economy to exceed $500 billion in nominal terms in the fiscal year 2025-26 and the Gross National Income (GNI) to stand at $529 billion.
Officials believe the rebasing exercise could further alter both the size and composition of GDP by better measuring these emerging activities.
The statistical revision is expected to affect several key macroeconomic indicators beyond headline GDP.
Ratios such as tax-to-GDP, public debt-to-GDP, fiscal deficit-to-GDP, and investment-to-GDP could all change once the economy is recalibrated, even if the underlying economic activities remain unchanged.
Rebasing does not create new economic output. Rather, it provides a more realistic measurement of an economy that has changed substantially since the last base year, says another BBS official.
Bangladesh has historically recorded upward revisions to both nominal GDP and GDP at constant prices following previous rebasing exercises, reflecting improvements in statistical coverage and methodology rather than sudden increases in production.
The current exercise is also expected to incorporate updated coefficients, benchmark surveys, and administrative data that better capture productivity and value added across sectors.
Officials say many areas are growing, with dragon and strawberry cultivation having higher value additions.
The government is emphasising the creative economy that aligns with the traditional cottage industries, for example "Shithol Pathi".
The revision may also improve the measurement of informal economic activities, an area that has long posed challenges for policymakers in developing economies.
The work is being supported by the Statistical Capacity Enhancement and Modernisation Project (SCEMP), an approximately Tk 11 billion programme implemented by the BBS with substantial financial assistance from the World Bank.
The project aims to modernise Bangladesh's statistical infrastructure by developing an integrated, ICT-based statistical system and strengthening the quality, coverage, and timeliness of official data.
Officials say the project would provide much of the benchmark information required for the rebasing exercise, including updated business registers, household surveys, and sector-specific datasets.
"The availability of improved data under SCEMP will significantly accelerate the rebasing process," another BBS official says.
Beyond revising GDP, the project is designed to align Bangladesh's statistical system with international best practices by improving core economic, labour, agricultural, price, and social statistics.
Economists say a successful rebasing exercise would enhance the credibility of Bangladesh's macroeconomic data at a time when international lenders, investors, and credit rating agencies are placing greater emphasis on statistical transparency and data quality.
"A more accurate measure of the economy could also improve policymaking by providing a clearer picture of structural transformation, helping the authorities design fiscal, monetary, and industrial policies based on a more representative assessment of economic activities," says Dr Zahid Hussain, an independent economist.
Women spend 7.3 times more hours on unpaid domestic work than men, contributing an estimated $50+ billion annually to the economy that will not be shown in the rebased GDP.
This will be shown in separate satellite accounts as per the SNA suggestions, BBS officials say.
jasimharoon@yahoo.com