The International Monetary Fund projects Bangladesh’s output per person will narrowly exceed India’s in fiscal 2025/26 in current dollars, a comparison that changes when local prices are considered.
The IMF’s October 2026 World Economic Outlook forecasts GDP per capita of $2,886 for Bangladesh and about $2,750 for India in current U.S. dollars. These are estimates, not final results. GDP per capita divides a country’s output by its population; it does not show how income is distributed or what a typical household earns.
On a purchasing-power-parity basis, which adjusts for differences in price levels, India remains ahead. The IMF’s 2026 projection is $12,998 per person for India and $10,884 for Bangladesh, in international dollars.
The IMF’s October 2026 World Economic Outlook projects Bangladesh’s current-dollar GDP per person slightly above India’s; the 2026 estimates use different fiscal-year periods, with India’s fiscal year running from April to March and Bangladesh’s from July to June.
The IMF forecasts real GDP growth of 7% in India and 3.6% in Bangladesh for 2026. It projects average consumer-price inflation of 5% in India and 8.7% in Bangladesh.
Bangladesh’s export economy is concentrated in ready-made garments, which account for 82% of exports but around 6% of national employment, according to the World Bank. The bank also says nearly nine in 10 workers are informal and three in five are in vulnerable employment. It identifies better earnings and job quality as important to reducing poverty.
The IMF’s current-dollar projections show India moving ahead of Bangladesh in GDP per capita by 2029. The October forecasts are based on information available through Oct. 1, 2026.
