Survey finds average debt of Bangladeshi households increased by 96% in 6 years

A BBS survey finds urban families are borrowing more than their rural counterparts

asif mahmud ove

In the six years to 2022, the average debt for every family has risen by 96 percent, according to a survey by the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics or BBS.

Each household owed Tk 37,743 in debt in 2016. However, in 2022, the average loan of a family in Bangladesh was Tk 74,000.

The general inflation during this period rose by 2 percentage points - from 5.53 in June 2016 to 7.56 in June 2022, according to the BBS

Also, the survey found that urban families were borrowing more than families living in rural settings.

The average debt of city-bound dwellers is Tk 137,456, whereas the debt of rural families stands at Tk 44,111.

Mohiuddin Ahmed, the national statistical agency's deputy director, disclosed the findings of the ‘Household Income Expenditure Survey 2022’ (HIES) on Wednesday at Dhaka’s Agargaon Statistics Building Auditorium.

The preliminary results of the survey were released this year in April.

While presenting the final findings of the HIES survey, the deputy director told the press that the average debt of each family increased to Tk 73,980 in 2022.

The average number of family members is 4.26, and per capita debt has increased by Tk 17,366.

In a similar survey published in 2016, the per capita debt was Tk 9,173.

The 2022 survey also found that household earnings also increased drastically.

According to the latest survey, the average income per family is Tk 32,422. The 2016 survey put the average income at Tk 15,988. The average earning has more than doubled in a span of six years.

In 2022, every family spent Tk 31,500 on average every month. Per the 2016 data, the average income of a family was Tk 15,715, and their monthly spending was Tk 31,500.

In the previous 2010 survey, it was Tk 11,200; in 2016, it was Tk 15,715.