Why Bangladesh Is Now Richer Than Pakistan

Why is Bangladesh richer than Pakistan? In 1971 it was the poorer half of Pakistan. Today it earns about $1,000 more per person a year. In 1971 a US official called the new country "an international basket case". Today, Bangladesh's income per person is $2,597 against Pakistan's $1,596 (World Bank, 2025). This video follows how the poorer half got richer: a trade rule that left a gap, 130 trainees sent to Korea, millions of garment workers (many of them women), health workers going door to door, girls kept in school, and a different choice about money. Then: can Bangladesh keep its lead? Chapters 0:00 How did the poorer half end up richer? 0:58 Why was the East poorer to begin with? 1:44 What did Bangladesh start with? 2:03 How did shirts change everything? 3:53 Why did mothers matter so much? 5:35 Where did Pakistan's money go? 6:42 So how did the poorer half get richer? 7:11 Can Bangladesh keep its lead? Income figures are GDP per person in current US dollars (World Bank); in local buying power (PPP) Bangladesh has also been ahead since 2017. The 1971 death toll is disputed: estimates range from 26,000 (Pakistan's Hamoodur Rahman Commission) to 3 million (Bangladesh's official figure). Calculations marked "our calc" are ours. Maps use present-day borders; Kashmir is shown as disputed. Sources World Bank, GDP per person (current US$): https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/... World Bank, GDP per person (PPP): https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/... World Bank, children per woman: https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/... World Bank, military spending (% of GDP): https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/... US State Department, FRUS 1969-76 vol. XI, doc. 235 ("basket case", 6 Dec 1971): https://history.state.gov/historicald... Mottaleb & Sonobe (2011), garment industry origins: https://grips.repo.nii.ac.jp/record/1... The Daily Star, garment industry origins: https://www.thedailystar.net/building... WTO Stats, clothing exports by economy (SITC 84), 1990-2024: https://stats.wto.org/ Khan et al. (2001), family-planning workers: https://iussp.org/sites/default/files... IMF lending history (member financial data): https://www.imf.org/external/np/fin/t... IMF, Bangladesh 2025 Article IV: https://www.imf.org/en/news/articles/... UN News, Rana Plaza (2014): https://news.un.org/en/node/466712 World Bank, child deaths before age 5 (UN IGME): https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/... Chowdhury et al. (1997), BRAC's oral rehydration programme: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10166103 UN LDC Portal, Bangladesh graduation status: https://www.un.org/ldcportal/content/... The News, Pakistan budget 2026-27 (interest 43% of spending): https://www.thenews.pk/print/1420212-... UN rights office report on the 2024 protests (BenarNews): https://www.benarnews.org/english/new... Bangladesh bank bad loans (June 2026), via ThePrint: https://theprint.in/economy/amid-oil-... Archive documents and photos WSAG minutes, 6 Dec 1971: FRUS 1969-76 XI doc. 235 (US State Dept) "Dissent from U.S. Policy Toward East Pakistan" (Dacca 1138, 6 Apr 1971): US State Dept / NARA, via National Security Archive Bhola cyclone, 12 Nov 1970: NASA Nimbus-4 imagery; synoptic map: NOAA Central Library Map "Pakistan" (1955): CIA / US National Archives (NAID 266782372) UN General Assembly resolution A/RES/76/8 (2021): United Nations Dhaka from Landsat, 1972-2001: NASA Goddard Scientific Visualization Studio Red Cross flood relief, Bangladesh, 29 Aug 1974: Anefo / Nationaal Archief, CC0 Rana Plaza, 2013: photo by Sharat Chowdhury, CC BY 2.5 Khaleda, a Rana Plaza survivor: Narayan Debnath/DFID, CC BY 2.0 Garment factory in Bangladesh: Tareq Salahuddin, CC BY 2.0, cropped Schoolgirls cycling home, Kushtia, 2017: photo by Nuhu Abdullah, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped Garment workers leaving a factory, Gazipur, 2026: photo by Nahid Sultan, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped Satellite imagery: NASA Blue Marble. Map data: OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL) Data: World Bank World Development Indicators, CC BY 4.0 Licences: creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0, /by/2.5, /by-sa/4.0 (our crops of CC BY-SA photos are also CC BY-SA 4.0). Photos via Wikimedia Commons. Images marked "Illustration" or "3D reconstruction" are not real photos. Made with AI-assisted tools. Narrated, researched, fact-checked and edited by Saleem Khan. #bangladesh #pakistan #economy