The Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) is launching its fourth economic census today

The Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) is launching its fourth economic census today (Tuesday), after a gap of 11 years, with a commitment to providing high-quality economic data.

The census, which will conclude on December 26, is being conducted at a cost of Tk 5.79 billion. Over the 17-day period, the BBS aims to cover around 7.6 million economic units out of an estimated 12 million across the country.

For the first time, the census will separately collect data on consumption, expenditure, and profit, according to SM Shakil Akhtar, project director of the Fourth Economic Census 2024, during a press briefing in the city.

Bangladesh's first economic census was held in 1986, followed by the second in 2001-2003, and the third in 2013.

The economic census typically provides crucial data on establishments, including permanent, temporary, and economic households at both national and sub-national levels, as well as on employment, business structure, labor force participation, and the private sector composition. "This time, we are focusing on producing high-quality data, and for the first time, we are including new types of economic units such as e-commerce," said Shakil Akhtar. Each of the 95,000 enumerators will visit 150 economic units and gather their data during the census period.

The final results of the 2013 Third Economic Census revealed that Bangladesh had a total of 7.818 million economic units, including 4.514 million permanent units, 0.48 million temporary units, and 2.821 million economic households. This represented a significant 110.85% growth in economic units compared to the 3.708 million reported in the Second Economic Census of 2001-2003. The number of permanent establishments increased from 1.561 million in 1986 to 2.991 million in 2001-2003, and to 4.514 million in 2013.

Statistics and Informatics Division Secretary Md Mahbub Hossain urged the public to cooperate with enumerators by providing accurate information about their economic units. He reassured that the data collected would not be shared with any other authorities, such as the income tax department, ensuring no conflict with the taxation system.