Women find greater role in economic activities: Survey

The female participation in economic activities has risen in Bangladesh thanks to women's empowerment initiatives by the government, official survey data has showed.
The participation in the economic activities rose by 0.17 percentage points to 16.71 per cent in 2024 from 16.54 per cent in 2013, the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) revealed in its latest Volume-II of the Economic Census Report 2024.
The engagement of women at work stood at 5.12 million in the latest survey against 4.05 million 11 years ago in 2013, the report showed.
The male participation in economic activities stood at 83.28 per cent in 2024 against 83.46 per cent in 2013, the BBS report said.
A total of 25.51 million male people were engaged in economic activities in Bangladesh in 2024. The number was recorded at 20.45 million in 2013, the BBS data showed.
The BBS in April last published the Volume-I of the Economic Census Report and the Volume-II was published on Thursday.
The latest official count has showed that Bangladesh's total number of economic units rose to 11.70 million from 7.82 million in 2013.
The people engaged in economic work also rose to 30.63 million in 2024 from 24.50 million in 2013, the official data showed.
Out of the total 11.70 million economic units, 6.27 million were permanent and 0.57 million were temporary units.
The country's economic structures showed a  complex shift during the period as manufacturing sector's share of the economic units declined despite a little gain in employment, the BBS report showed.
Although the number of economic units crossed 11.70 million in 2024, up from 7.82 million in 2013, the manufacturing sector's share of these units notably declined, the official data showed.
According to the census report, the manufacturing sector accounted for 9.57 per cent of the country's total economic units, a decline from the 11.1 per cent recorded in 2013.
Despite this drop in the proportion of physical units, the sector saw a marginal increase in its share of total employment.
The proportion of the Total Persons Engaged (TPE) in manufacturing sector rose to 29.47 per cent in 2024, up from 29.32 per cent in the previous census in 2013, the BBS data showed.
The manufacturing sector was ranked the 4th largest category in terms of economic units, significantly trailing behind the Wholesale and Retail Trade (40.19 per cent), Transportation and Storage (22.22 per cent) and Other Service Activities (10.31 per cent).
A staggering 85.89 per cent of economic units reported facing unavailability of sufficient capital, the BBS report showed.
The "easy loan" remained elusive for many; 34.42 per cent of units specifically cited a lack of easy access to loans from commercial banks and financial institutions as a primary difficulty.
Other major operational challenges identified included Infrastructural Problems (18.77 per cent), Rising Production Costs (9.70 per cent), Skilled Manpower Shortages (9.46 per cent), Electricity and Fuel Issues (8.02 per cent).
The 2024 data underscored the overwhelming dominance of the service sector, hosting 90.02 per cent (approximately 10.53 million) of all economic units. In contrast, the industrial sector accounted for only 9.98 per cent with 1.17 million units.
Structurally, the economy remained driven by very small-scale enterprises, according to the Economic Census.
Micro and cottage industries together made up more than 95 per cent of all economic units in the country.
The Micro Industries accounted for 56.67 per cent (6.63 million units), the Cottage Industries 38.74 per cent (4.53 million units) and Small Industries 4.21 per cent and Medium & Large Industries less than 0.4 per cent.
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