The largest extent of Bangladesh is its land area. At present per capita land availability is only 0.21 acres. Due to housing construction, urbanization and development activities, the amount of land available per capita continues to decline.
According to the Soil Resources Development Institute, about 1 percent of agricultural land is converted to non-agricultural use every year. Every year about 10,000 hectares of land disappears from the national map due to river erosion.
In other words, while the population is increasing, the land beneath people’s feet is shrinking. By 2050, per capita land availability is expected to fall to less than 0.15 acres, further increasing risks to food security.
Meanwhile, data from the Department of Agricultural Extension shows that Bangladesh had 19 million acres of cultivable land in 2008. By 2019, that figure had fallen to 18.6 million acres, representing a loss of 400,000 acres of farmland during that period.
Bangladesh imports comparatively small quantities of rice, but it also regularly imports large quantities of wheat, edible oils (palm and soybean), sugar, pulses, onions, milk and dairy products as well as fruits.
According to Bangladesh Bank, the country spent US$9.07 billion on imports of food grains, edible oils, sugar, pulses, milk, spices and oilseeds in the 2024-25 fiscal year. This amounted to approximately Tk1.12 trillion in local currency.