Average per-capita expenditure in extreme poor households decreased by 45 per cent to Tk 1,731 in 2020 from Tk 3,178 in 2018, while such expenditure in non-poor and non-vulnerable families increased by 6.0 per cent from Tk 4,753 to Tk 5,027, said a survey.
The survey report, released on Saturday also said that the upper poverty rate in Bangladesh almost doubled to 42 per cent in December 2020 from 21.6 per cent in 2018 for Covid-19.
Lower or extreme poverty rate also increased in the meantime from 9.4 per cent in 2018 to 28.5 per cent in 2020, it showed.
The survey, conducted by the South Asian Network on Economic Modeling (SANEM), was published on Saturday.
Following the start of the pandemic in late March 2020, average per-capita spending in extreme poor households decreased by 45 per cent in 2020. Such expenditure in non-poor and non-vulnerable families increased by 6.0 per cent.
The findings were unveiled at a webinar titled 'Covid-19 Fallout on Poverty and Livelihoods in Bangladesh: Findings from SANEM's Nationwide Survey (November-December 2020)' hosted by SANEM.
Prof Dr MM Akash, chairman of economics department at Dhaka University, Centre for Policy Dialogue executive director Dr Fahmida Khatun and former World Bank economist Dr Zahid Hussain spoke as panellists.
SANEM executive director Dr Selim Raihan made a keynote presentation at the programme.
He said the survey analysed the pandemic's impact on income, expenditure, employment, education, health and social safety-net coverage of the respondents.
According to the survey, average per-capita expenditure in extreme poor households decreased by 45 per cent to Tk 1,731 in 2020 from Tk 3,178 in 2018.
However, such expenditure in non-poor and non-vulnerable families increased by 6.0 per cent from Tk 4,753 to Tk 5,027.
Revealing findings on the job market, Dr Raihan said at least 8.6-per cent respondents lost work during the pandemic and could not find a new one to date.
Income of 55.9 per cent decreased during the period despite having jobs and that of 17.3 per cent remains unchanged.
Dr Raihan, also an economics professor at Dhaka University, said despite a record remittance inflow in the past six months, the respondents made a mixed bag.
Around 82.1-per cent households claimed they received less remittance from abroad and 64 per cent received less remittance from within the country compared to what they received before Covid-19.
Dr Akash said there remains a question as to whether the jump in poverty rates and backward mobility induced by Covid-19 is temporary or long-lasting.
SANEM, in collaboration with the general economic division under the Planning Commission, conducted a nationwide survey in 2018 covering 10,500 households.
For the survey, SANEM approached the same set of respondents for telephone interviews with 5,577 households from all eight divisions and 64 districts.