A growing middle class in Bangladesh is fueling demand for high quality agricultural products. According to Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics reporting for FY 2023-2024, crops, livestock, fisheries, and forest products accounted for 11 percent of Bangladesh’s total GDP and employed 38 percent of the population. Most agricultural production in Bangladesh is characterized as traditional subsistence farming, including all crop production. Bangladesh produces a variety of agricultural products such as rice, wheat, corn, legumes, fruits, vegetables, meat, fish, seafood, and dairy products. Rice is the main staple in the Bangladeshi diet, but wheat consumption is rising, particularly baked goods. Lack of arable land and limited natural resources increase the importance of new agricultural technologies, such as salt tolerant or submergence tolerant seed varieties, to help increase productivity and meet future demand. Floods, cyclones, and biotic-abiotic stress can also affect agricultural productivity levels and farm incomes.
Space constraints naturally limit domestic agricultural production to feed the growing population, creating increased opportunities for imports. From 2021-2024, the United States annually exported an average of $886 million in agricultural and related products (forestry and seafood) to Bangladesh, but growth potential is strong. Although Bangladesh imports bulk commodities such as soybeans and soybean meal, as well as dried distillers grains and solubles, there are also niche segment opportunities for high-value agricultural product imports, particularly in affluent urban centers such as Dhaka and Chittagong. Imports of U.S. consumer-oriented/packaged food products in 2024 reached $12.6 million. Strong consumer demand exists for imported fresh and dried fruits, tree nuts, and dairy products, as well as processed food products. However, tariff and non-tariff barriers are a significant constraint on import market opportunities. Currently, the GOB does not issue import permits for meat, though no legal barriers exist.
Table: Agriculture total market size, USD millions
Indicators | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 |
Total Local Production | $37,524 | $38,715 | $39,433 | $35,410 | $32,595 |
Total Exports | $1,772 | $2,334 | $2,701 | $2,598 | $2,250 |
Total Imports | $8,465 | $10,328 | $13,574 | $12,799 | $11,289 |
Imports from the US | $1,031 | $928 | $934 | $757 | $779 |
Total Market Size | $44,217 | $46,709 | $50,306 | $45,611 | $41,634 |
Exchange Rates | $85 | $85 | $86 | $99 | $111 |
(Total market size = (total local production + imports) - exports)
Leading Sub-sectors
The agriculture and food processing industry accounts for approximately 1.7 percent of GDP, 13 percent of total manufacturing production value, and employs 6.5 percent of the manufacturing labor force. Bangladesh’s $8 billion food processing sector grows at an average annual rate of 8 percent. The industry employs 2.2 percent of the country’s total labor force and is dominated by small enterprises (90 percent), with the remaining 10 percent being large and medium-sized enterprises. Bangladesh has nearly 323 large and medium-sized food manufacturing enterprises that process frozen shrimp, tea, beverages, biscuits, confectionery items, edible oils (soybean, mustard, and rice bran oil), wheat flour, frozen food, ready-to-cook food, dairy products, fruit juices, and other various foods and beverages.
Opportunities
Agricultural equipment and technology; agriculture inputs, including feed, seeds, pesticides, fertilizers; dairy processing equipment; aquaculture and fish processing equipment; packaging and canning equipment and technology; agriculture infrastructure consulting services and solutions, including silos and cold chain/cold storage facilities.