Bangladesh Examines AI Readiness and Digital Gaps in Economic Census

Discussions regarding Bangladesh's preparation for an artificial intelligence economy took place against the backdrop of critical findings from the Economic Census 2024. The data revealed that only 2.44 percent of manufacturing establishments in the country currently use computers or information technology in production. This low rate of technology integration highlights the substantial digital divide that policymakers and industry leaders must address as global technological standards continue to shift rapidly toward advanced automation and digital infrastructure.

Amid these low rates of technology adoption in the manufacturing sector, the nation faces severe labor market pressures. Between 2016 and 2022, 1.4 crore young Bangladeshis became working age adults, while the broader economy added only 87 lakh jobs during the exact same period. This stark discrepancy between the influx of new labor force participants and job creation rates has left a large segment of the population navigating a difficult employment landscape.

Furthermore, the nature of the jobs being created presents additional structural hurdles for the economy. Nearly 70 percent of those individuals who successfully found work ultimately entered low-productivity agriculture. This reliance on low-productivity sectors contrasts sharply with the performance of the country's economic elite, as Bangladesh's most productive firms are about 11 times as productive as other formal firms.

These high-performing enterprises account for around 70 percent of national exports, yet they account for only about 15 percent of formal employment. Bridging the gap between these elite exporters and the rest of the economy remains a central challenge for long-term sustainable growth and equitable workforce development across the country.

At the same time, the global economic context of artificial intelligence is shifting dramatically, driven by plummeting costs. According to Stanford's AI Index, the cost of using a model performing at roughly the GPT-3.5 level fell sharply from about $20 per million tokens in November 2022 down to just $0.07 by October 2024. This rapid reduction in the cost of advanced artificial intelligence capabilities adds urgency to discussions surrounding technological integration worldwide.

In response to these emerging technological imperatives and structural economic realities, the FY2026-27 budget projects a forward-looking vision. The fiscal plan explicitly outlines the creation of specialised laboratories dedicated to artificial intelligence, machine learning, and big data, signaling a policy intent to foster advanced technological capabilities within the nation.