Bangladesh graduates to a developing nation by 2026

Bangladesh will become a developing nation by the year 2026 graduating from the Least Developed Country (LDC) status as the United Nations has made its final recommendations declaring the country's qualified for this graduation. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said this at a press conference at the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) attending virtually from her official Ganabhaban residence at 4 pm on Saturday.

She said this while briefing media about the United Nations’ final recommendations on Bangladesh’s graduation from the LDCs.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina hailed the emergence of Bangladesh from a least developed country to a developing one terming this as a 'historic achievement' at a time when the nation is gearing up to mark the 50th year of its independence.

"Yesterday, Bangladesh received the final recommendation from the United Nations to move from a least developed country to a developing country. We are fully qualified to be promoted to the rank of developing countries," she informed.

"This is a matter of great joy and pride for the entire nation. It comes at a time when we are celebrating the birth centenary of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the greatest Bengali of all time, and are on the verge of celebrating the golden jubilee of independence."

The prime minister dedicated the achievement to the next generation of Bangladeshis who will "take the country further and transform it into a developed and prosperous nation”.

With the final recommendation from the UN panel, Bangladesh received a five-year transition period. That means Bangladesh will formally graduate to the developing nation category in 2026.

Taffere Tesfachew, chair of the CDP subgroup on LDCs, announced the decision of its recommendation during a media brief Friday night following the five-day triennial review meeting. 

The second triennial review meeting of the UNCDP’s LDC category was held from February 22-26.

After the recommendation by the UN committee for Bangladesh to become a developing nation, the proposal will be sent to the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) for endorsement in June.

The UN General Assembly is scheduled to approve the proposal in September this year.

Bangladesh has been on the UN's LDC list since 1975. According to the UN, a country is eligible to graduate from the LDC category if it has a gross national income (GNI) per capita of $1,230 or above for three years, a Human Assets Index (HAI) of 66 or above and an Economic Vulnerability Index (EVI) of 32 or below. Graduation requires fulfilling these criteria in two consecutive tri-annual reviews.

Bangladesh satisfied all the necessary conditions for the first time in 2018 and has continued to meet the mark ever since. The South Asian nation is now set to rank among developing countries along with Nepal and Lao DPR.

The South Asian nation's GNI per capita was $ 1,827 in 2020. The HAI is 75.3, while the EVI is 25.2.

The United Nations Committee for Development Policy (UNCDP) has recommended Bangladesh’s graduation from the Least Developed Country (LDC) status for fulfilling its all three eligibility criteria for the second time alongside Nepal and Lao PDR.

Bangladesh has met, for the second consecutive time, all the three eligibility criteria of graduation like income per capita, human assets, and economic and environmental vulnerability.

The UNCDP, however, deferred the decision on Myanmar and Timore-Leste to the 2024 triennial review.

The UN panel deferred recommending Myanmar for graduation due to concerns on negative impacts of the state of emergency declared by the military on its development trajectory and graduation preparation.

The panel also deferred recommending Timore-Leste due to continued concerns about the sustainability of the country’s development progress. For the first time, no country was found eligible for inclusion in 2021.

In view of the impact of Covid-19 pandemic on the economy, the CDP recommended that Bangladesh and two other countries get five years, till 2026, to prepare for the transition to a developing country instead of three years. Bangladesh was well ahead in the gross national income (GNI) criterion: its per capita income was nearly US$1,827 in 2020 against the threshold of US$1,230.

In the Human Assets Index (HAI), the country’s (Bangladesh) score stands at 75.3 points, well above the requirement score of 66. In the Economic Vulnerability Index (EVI), score of a country has to be less than 32 while Bangladesh’s score is 27.3 points.