BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE COUNTRY'S RELATIONSHIP WITH SDG 8

Bangladesh is a densely populated country, home to more than 178 million people and to a fast-growing economy that averaged 6% GDP growth over the past decade, making the country one of the fastest-growing economies in the world (World Bank, n.d.; Worldometer, n.d.). The sheer size of its population and its inspiring economic development of the last decade make Bangladesh a particularly relevant country from the perspective of SDG 8’s achievement. Bangladesh has made remarkable progress in the area of economic growth over the past few decades and it has recently reaffirmed its commitment to the 2030 Agenda, identifying SDG 8 as one of its priority goals (Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh, 2025, p. 7; World Bank, n.d.). However, the country is struggling in achieving decent work for all, as significant challenges continue to plague its labour market, characterized by widespread informal employment, unequal employment opportunities for women and youths, and persisting child labour (Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh, 2025, pp. 38-39).

CURRENT CHALLENGES AND RECENT DEVELOPMENTS

Bangladesh’s labour market is plagued by informal employment, as 84.08% of Bangladeshi were estimated to work in the informal sector in 2025. The situation is even worse for women and the youth. The share of informally employed women and youths in 2023 exceeded 95% and 92% respectively, significantly higher than the national average (Government of the Republic of Bangladesh, 2025, p. 38). Workers within the informal economy face important risks for their financial security and their health. Employment within the informal economy is typically accompanied by precarious working conditions, unregulated working arrangements, and a complete lack of social and legal protection that leave most workers in an extremely vulnerable position (International Labour Organization, 2015).

Another important challenge for Bangladesh is generating sufficient productive jobs, as employment growth has struggled to keep pace with the fast-growing working-age population. Between 2013 and 2022, the working-age population of Bangladesh has grown by 1.5% every year, while employment has expanded by 0.2% only, pushing many Bangladeshi into unemployment, particularly younger women and men. Furthermore, the overwhelming majority of jobs are generated by relatively unproductive firms, whereas high-skill jobs are extremely hard to come by. As a result, unemployment among people aged between 15 and 24 has kept rising, reaching 16% in 2022, while labour productivity and real wages continue to remain low (Galal, 2025).

In this regard, Bangladesh’s youth is particularly disadvantaged within the labour market. Less than 2% of employed youths held a formal job in 2024, while almost 40% of youths aged between 15 and 24 were neither in education, nor employment or training in 2023 (Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh, 2025, p. 39; Kapoor, 2026, p. 26). The precarious situation of Bangladesh’s youth highlights the need to intervene in the area of education and skills development. As a matter of fact, effort has already been made in this direction, through the Futurenation initiative, co-led by the Bangladesh Investment Development Authority and the United Nations Development Programme. The initiative bridges education and employment by providing opportunities to develop in-demand skills, especially for women and marginalized communities (United Nations Sustainable Development Group, 2025).

In addition, Bangladesh is struggling to eradicate child labour, as this practice has tragically increased between the 2010s and the 2020s, marking an important setback to the achievement of SDG 8. In 2022, around 34.3% of children aged between five an eleven years were estimated to be engaged in child labour, whereas the percentage reached 51.8% for teenagers aged between 14 and 17 (Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh, 2025, p. 39). Important measures are needed to reverse this trend and to push Banglades in the right direction towards decent work for all.

LIST OF REFERENCES AND USEFUL LINKS

Galal, R. (2025, April 1). Towards a new job-creation agenda in Bangladesh. World Bank. Retrieved September 7, 2026, from https://blogs.worldbank.org/en/psd/towards-a-new-job-creation-agenda-in-bangladesh

Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh. (2025). Bangladesh Voluntary National Review (VNR) 2025. United Nations High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development. https://hlpf.un.org/sites/default/files/vnrs/2025/VNR%202025%20Bangladesh%20Report.pdf

International Labour Organization. (2015, March 23). Informal economy: a hazardous activity. Retrieved September 7, 2026, from https://www.ilo.org/resource/other/informal-economy-hazardous-activity

Kapoor, R. (2026). Reviving and Reconnecting Economic Growth and Employment in Bangladesh (ILO Working Paper No. 162).  https://doi.org/10.54394/00033219

United Nations Sustainable Development Group. (2025, July 23). From Care Work to Climate Jobs: How Local Action is Powering Global Progress on Decent Work. Retrieved September 7, 2026, from https://unsdg.un.org/latest/stories/care-work-climate-jobs-how-local-action-powering-global-progress-decent-work

World Bank. (n.d.). Overview: Bangladesh. Retrieved September 7, 2026, from https://www.worldbank.org/ext/en/country/bangladesh#tab-about

Worldometer. (n.d.). Bangladesh Population (LIVE). Retrieved September 7, 2026, from https://www.worldometers.info/world-population/bangladesh-population/