A total of 37.6 million people, 23.5 per cent of the total population, still live under poverty in Bangladesh, according to the latest figures of the General Economic Division (GED) that reveals the economic data of the country and estimates the figure of poverty. According to the GED, a total of 37.6 million people are still poor including 19.4 million are extreme poor. The poverty rate has reduced by 1.3 per cent in one year as the poverty rate was 24.8 per cent in 2015.
According to the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistic (BBS), anyone who earns less than Tk. 1,300 is considered to be extreme poor.  The WB, however, estimates anyone earning less than Tk. 1,297 (according to the WB) as extreme poor. Those who earn less than Tk. 1600 are considered moderately poor. In 2009, Bangladesh had five crore moderately poor including 2.8 crore extremely poor people, according to BBS statistics. Bangladesh can eliminate extreme poverty by 2030 if it takes firm steps to make growth more inclusive to benefit all Bangladeshis, according the October issue of the "Bangladesh Development Update" of the World Bank (WB). Following the new USD 1.90 poverty line based on purchasing power in 2011, 28 million (18.5 per cent) Bangladeshis lived in extreme poverty in 2010. More than 16 million people in Bangladesh graduated from extreme poverty to moderate poverty between 2000 and 2010, the WB report said.
"Achieving the goal of reducing extreme poverty to less than 3 per cent of Bangladeshis by 2030 will require economic growth becoming more inclusive with the poorest 40 percent of society receiving greater benefits from development," the report stated.
The report further said that to move to the next level and to become a middle income country by 2021, as well as to overcome extreme poverty by 2030, the country needs to sustain its economic and remittance growth, create more and better jobs, focus on energy and transportation infrastructure, and make progress on improving the quality of healthcare and education.
Poverty is the single most important socio-economic policy challenge for Bangladesh. Bangladesh has been struggling for a long time to reduce the incidence of poverty and to improve the living standards of millions of impoverished citizens. In recent years, the country has made significant progress in reducing poverty. Poverty alleviation is high on Bangladesh’s development agenda, as evidenced by all plan documents.
This decline in poverty in Bangladesh is mostly attributable to the relentless poverty reduction interventions by the state.
Commenting on poverty reduction, GED senior secretary Prof. Shamsul Alam said the government has put special emphasis on poverty alleviation and pledged to eradicate poverty through planned economic development. If poverty reduction continues at the present rate, extreme poverty in the country may be eliminated by 2028, he added
Alam also said that the present government is playing a vital role in reducing poverty at a rapid rate of 2 per cent per year.
Scrutinising the poverty reduction rates in the last 10 years, it can be envisioned that by 2030 Bangladesh would become free from extreme poverty and everyone would be better off, said Alam, adding that Bangladesh’s success in poverty reduction has been much lauded by the international community.
When the Awami League-led government took office in 2009, around five crore citizens of the country were poor, of whom 2.88 crore were in the clutches of extreme poverty. During the previous term of the present government, the number of poor and extreme poor came down to around 3.85 crore and 1.57 crore, respectively, though the population continued to grow, on average, at a rate of 1.16 per cent on average.
Many of the extremely poor have crossed over the poverty line in the last 22 years. As many as 45 per cent of the extremely poor were pulled out of poverty in the last five years.
According to GED, social safety net programmes (SSNPs) in Bangladesh address the basic needs of the people, including food, shelter, education, and health.
The prime programmes covered under SSNPs are: food for work, vulnerable group development, vulnerable group feeding, old-age allowances, allowances for mentally challenged people, allowances for widows and distressed women, and grants for orphanages. There are also micro-credit programmes and allowances for freedom fighters, among others. Distressed people, particularly women, children, and the disabled, have been given priority under SSNPs.