Bangladesh has the potential to be among the fastest growing economies in coming years which will help it take the 28th place among the world’s most powerful economies within 2030.
The country will benefit from its youthful and fast growing working-age population, boosting domestic demand and output, according to an analysis from Price water house Coopers.
A PwC report titled “The long view: how will the global economic order change by 2050?” also predicts that Bangladesh could rise further in the ranking by achieving an average annual growth of around 5% over the next 34 years.
The report ranked 32 countries by their projected global gross domestic product by purchasing power parity (PPP).
PPP estimates of GDP adjust for price level differences across countries, providing a better measure of the volume of goods and services produced by an economy as compared to GDP at current market exchange rates, which is a measure of value.
Bangladesh ranked 31st among the world’s 32 largest economies in 2016 that together account for around 85% of global GDP.
Emerging market economies will drive global growth and eventually increase their share of world GDP, the report says. During this period, there will be a shift in global economic power.
“We project that the world economy will double in size by 2042, growing at an annual average rate of around 2.6% between 2016 and 2050,” the PwC report adds.
It also predicts that E7 economies – Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Russia and Turkey – would occupy almost 50% of world GDP by 2050, while the G7’s share would decline to only just over 20%.
Findings by the PwC, one of the world’s largest professional-services firms, show China, India and the US would be at the top of the table.
China is already the top country in terms of PPP. India has been projected to be the world’s second largest economy beating the US in GDP at PPP terms by 2050.
During this period, Bangladesh will see impressive growth that will push it to the 23rd place.
But realising Bangladesh’s growth potential depends on sustained investment and reform.
“… Growth needs to be supported by sustained economic reforms, strengthening macroeconomic fundamentals, institutions and, crucially, mass education to ensure their rapidly growing working populations contribute productively to long term economic growth”.
By 2030, the country’s projected GDP at PPP will stand at $1.324 trillion and is expected to rise to $3.064 trillion by 2050, ahead of Malaysia.
Bangladesh, India and Vietnam have the potential to be the fastest growing economies between 2016 and 2050.
“But growth in these countries is driven even more by real GDP per capita growth, suggesting capital investment and technological progress will deliver real labour productivity enhancing benefits,” the report says.
“For these countries to realise this potential, growth needs to be supported by sustained economic reforms, strengthening macroeconomic fundamentals, institutions and, crucially, mass education to ensure their rapidly growing working populations contribute productively to long-term economic growth.”
