The People’s Republic of Bangladesh offers a highly populated market to global exporters, home to 166.3 million residents in 2021. Compared to other countries with over 100 million residents, Bangladesh is the world’s most densely populated relatively large nation.

Geographically located in South Asia, Bangladesh is situated near major trading partners like India, Myanmar to its southeast, and China to its north.

Bangladesh’s official language is Bengali. Nevertheless, English is widely used in Bangladesh unsurprising given that the English language is compulsory in many Bangladeshi schools.

Bangladesh is the world’s 25th richest economy in terms of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) on a Purchasing Power Parity basis, outputting US$1.346 trillion worth of products and services as of October 2022.

Bangladesh’s demand for imported consumer goods in 2021 resulted in a subtotal US$29.9 billion worth of Bangladeshi spending on the 100 most valuable consumer imports identified in this article.

That consumer-driven dollar amount translates to 38.8% of the overall value of all goods imported into Bangladesh. Spending on all Bangladeshi imports, including raw materials, intermediate products and semi-finished goods, totaled an estimated overall $77 billion in 2021.

Among Bangladesh’s most valuable consumer products in 2021 are: processed petroleum oils, phone devices including smartphones, petroleum gas, palm oil and soya beans.

Spending on all of Bangladesh’s imported goods accelerated by 53.5% from 2020 to 2021. Bangladesh’s purchases focused on its top 100 consumer imports posted a slightly smaller 52.7% upturn over the latest annual period.

Bangladesh’s purchases of imported products–both overall and consumer–outpaced the global average upturn of 26.5% from 2020 to 2021 incorporating all importing countries.

Among the top 100 consumer products imported by Bangladesh, 88 increased in total value from 2020 to 2021 whereas 12 declined.

Changes in Bangladeshi consumer demand for essential imports offer future opportunities for international suppliers who correctly anticipate which upward or downward trends will continue.

Consumer Products Defined

Economics educator BoyceWire defines a consumer product as a final good or end product that a business creates for consumers to buy. For example, consumers often purchase refined petroleum oil at the gas station while imported crude oil is an intermediate good subject to further processing before being sold to end users.

Although there may be a few wealthy individual buyers, products like turbojets are excluded from the consumer products targeted by this study. That is because turbojets are usually purchased by corporations. In contrast, it is common for a consumer to buy a car, boat or motorcycle.

Types of Consumer Products

This article focuses on 3 distinct consumer product types.

Convenience Products are easy to access, non-durable, have relatively lower prices and therefore consumers frequently purchase them. Examples of convenience products are food, alcoholic or non-alcoholic drinks, and soap.

Shopping Products are not as easily available, involve more time to make a buying decision, are durable and are not bought as often as most convenience products. A great example of a shopping product is a mobile phone where buying the wrong model is a much more expensive mistake than buying a stale loaf of bread.

Speciality Products describe another consumer product type. This grey area includes infrequently purchased, expensive, durable and sometimes rare items. Consumers may consider the product’s brand image when making their purchase decisions. Some examples of speciality products are gold, silver, diamonds, jewelry, and branded refrigerators and dishwashers.

Bangladesh’s Most Valuable Imported Convenience Products

The list below showcases the most valuable imported convenience products on which buyers in Bangladesh spent the most. Items were selected at the four-digit Harmonized System tariff classification code level and are presented in descending order.

You can also peruse the greatest increases or decreases in product values from 2021 to 2022 by focusing on the percentages displayed to the right of each product name.

Processed petroleum oils: US$5,477,498,000 (up 107.2%)
Petroleum gas: $1,636,476,000 (up 51%)
Palm oil: $1,451,762,000 (up 61.9%)
Soya beans: $1,045,848,000 (up 23.9%)
Rice: $1,015,393,000 (up 4,392%)
Soya-bean oil: $891,068,000 (up 93.2%)
Sugar (cane or beet): $875,275,000 (up 20.7%)
Dried shelled vegetables: $661,426,000 (up 19.4%)
Coal, solid fuels made from coal: $586,498,000 (up 49.6%)
Corn: $480,854,000 (up 15.5%)
Concentrated/sweetened milk: $433,923,000 (up 27.5%)
Apples, pears (fresh): $254,967,000 (up 6.1%)
Miscellaneous plastic items: $224,547,000 (up 60.7%)
Other organic cleaning preparations: $212,229,000 (up 46.1%)
Onions, garlic, leeks: $200,678,000 (down -15.6%)
Fresh or dried citrus fruit: $185,640,000 (down -10.5%)
Antibiotics: $166,747,000 (up 12.7%)
Malt extract, food preparations: $145,689,000 (up 22.9%)
Grapes (fresh or dried): $118,536,000 (down -14.2%)
Spices ginger, saffron, thyme, curry: $99,232,000 (down -26.8%)
Medications: $97,720,000 (up 14%)
Ink: $83,784,000 (up 30.2%)
Peppers: $83,315,000 (down -25.2%)
Miscellaneous nuts: $82,729,000 (up 67.3%)
Miscellaneous food preparations: $77,401,000 (up 51%)
Plastic packing goods, lids, caps: $75,473,000 (up 26.5%)
Whole fish (frozen): $74,611,000 (up 184.2%)
Nutmeg, cardamoms: $72,167,000 (down -46%)
Dates/pineapples/mango/avocado: $62,722,000 (up 22.7%)
Provitamins, vitamins: $39,418,000 (up 0.7%)
Uncoated paper for writing/printing: $37,820,000 (up 23.6%)
Plastic wares (table, kitchen, toiletry): $35,764,000 (up 27.9%)
Fish or meat flours, pellets: $33,212,000 (down -28%)
Frozen beef: $32,496,000 (up 103%)
Miscellaneous fruits (fresh): $32,145,000 (up 66.1%)
Sowing seeds, fruits, spores: $26,397,000 (up 12.6%)

Convenience products led by the products listed above represent the Asian country’s second-most popular import product type attracting the most Bangladeshi spending after shopping products.

Non-durable consumer products are goods that are not re-used once consumed. Alcoholic beverages and bananas are examples of non-durable goods. Convenience products are uniquely non-durable consumer products.

Bangladesh’s Most Valuable Imported Shopping Products

Below, the list highlights the most valuable imported shopping products on which buyers in Bangladesh spent the greatest amounts. Items were selected at the four-digit Harmonized System tariff classification code level and are presented from highest to lowest total amounts.

The percentages displayed to the right of each product name reveal the highest increases or decreases in Bangladeshi spending on that specific type of shopping product from 2021 to 2022.

Phone devices including smartphones: US$1,648,629,000 (up 31.7%)
Hot-rolled iron/non-alloy steel items: $763,595,000 (up 53.9%)
Wide knit or crochet fabrics: $586,819,000 (up 62.4%)
Cars: $557,533,000 (up 67.1%)
Motorcycle parts/accessories: $520,139,000 (up 73.7%)
Packaged insecticides, herbicides: $394,568,000 (up 38.5%)
Electrical converters/power units: $344,945,000 (up 27.3%)
Computers, optical readers: $336,941,000 (up 45.2%)
Trucks: $284,035,000 (up 39.5%)
Insoles, heel cushions: $260,209,000 (up 71.4%)
Insulated wire/cable: $256,502,000 (up 66.9%)
Unrecorded sound media: $198,581,000 (up 12.9%)
Rubber tires (new): $176,769,000 (up 42.1%)
Printing machinery: $159,844,000 (up 43.3%)
Automobile parts/accessories: $144,516,000 (up 35%)
Motorcycles: $142,150,000 (up 26.7%)
Tractors: $134,953,000 (up 39.8%)
Miscellaneous iron or steel items: $131,846,000 (up 72.8%)
Lower-voltage switches, fuses: $110,787,000 (up 57.1%)
Cases, handbags, wallets: $107,555,000 (up 261.6%)
Bras, corsets (unknit/non-crochet): $91,168,000 (up 28.5%)
Prepared glues, adhesives: $85,181,000 (up 53.8%)
Aluminum foil: $72,920,000 (up 19.6%)
Footwear (rubber or plastic): $68,384,000 (up 50.3%)
Microphones/headphones/amplifiers: $66,804,000 (up 44.4%)
Computer parts, accessories: $66,155,000 (up 9%)
Paper containers, cellulose wadding: $62,143,000 (up 106.2%)
Screws, bolts, washers, hooks, pins: $60,211,000 (up 70.6%)
Electric lamps: $52,220,000 (up 54.8%)
Miscellaneous textile items: $51,400,000 (down -37%)
Locks, lock-keys: $50,770,000 (up 34.8%)
Miscellaneous toys: $47,930,000 (up 41.6%)
Sports equipment: $46,606,000 (up 31.6%)
Soap, organic surface-active goods: $45,993,000 (up 34.5%)
Vulcanized rubber items: $43,838,000 (up 34.7%)
Imitation jewelry: $41,109,000 (up 243.3%)
Paints, varnishes: $38,870,000 (up 39.7%)
Lubricant/anti-rust preparations: $34,057,000 (up 34.9%)
Miscellaneous furniture: $33,607,000 (up 25%)
Seats (not barber/dentist chairs): $33,134,000 (up 16.5%)
Printed books, brochures: $30,449,000 (down -47.3%)
Orthopedic appliances: $28,569,000 (up 51.6%)

Focusing on the scope of this analysis, shopping products is Bangladesh’s most popular category ahead of both convenience products and speciality items.

Shopping products exceed two-fifths (42) of the overall top 100 Bangladeshi imported consumer goods.

Durable consumer products are goods like cars, refrigerators and furniture that last a relatively long time. Consumers can put durable products to use again and again. Note that shopping products and speciality products are considered as durable consumer products.

Bangladesh’s Most Valuable Imported Speciality Products

Speciality products represent the category with the fewest entries among Bangladesh’s imports that attracted the greatest Bangladeshi spending on imported consumer goods during 2022.

Selected at the four-digit Harmonized System tariff classification code level, the most valuable speciality items are listed in descending order below.

The percentage to the right of each product name reveal highest increases or decreases in 2022 compared to 2021.

Fertilizer mixes: US$888,276,000 (up 280.6%)
Nitrogenous fertilizers: $502,941,000 (up 98.7%)
Liquid pumps: $437,831,000 (up 63.6%)
Temperature-change machines: $338,512,000 (up 8.2%)
Gold (unwrought): $293,059,000 (down -26.2%)
Sewing machines, related furniture: $276,752,000 (up 87.6%)
Electric generating sets, converters: $190,264,000 (up 14.4%)
Electric storage batteries: $182,399,000 (up 28%)
Electric motors, not generating sets: $170,595,000 (down -32.5%)
Dishwash, clean/dry/fill machines $155,656,000 (up 39.4%)
Air conditioners: $147,943,000 (up 38.7%)
Refrigerators, freezers: $123,547,000 (up 17.3%)
Potassic fertilizers: $108,615,000 (up 1.9%)
Jewelry: $100,005,000 (up 14.4%)
Household base metal mountings: $93,690,000 (up 29.7%)
Electric water heaters, hair dryers: $74,433,000 (up 28.5%)
Liquid crystal/laser/optical tools: $73,680,000 (up 46%)
Iron/steel stoves, barbecues: $61,396,000 (down -14.9%)
Beauty/makeup/skin care: $44,628,000 (up 43.5%)
Electromechanic appliances: $37,353,000 (up 132.2%)
Spectacles, goggles: $36,895,000 (up 284.2%)
Other printed pictures, photos: $33,906,000 (up 154.9%)

Like shopping products, speciality products are considered as durable consumer products.

Based on the product types identified in the sections above, 64 of Bangladesh’s 100 highest-value consumer shopper plus speciality products are durable while the remaining 36 convenience products are classified as non-durable.

Overall Fastest-Growing Consumer Imports

Listed below are the top 10 consumer products imported into Bangladesh that experienced the highest percentage increases in spending from 2020 to 2021.

Rice: Up 4,392% (US$1 billion)
Spectacles, goggles: Up 284.2% ($36.9 million)
Fertilizer mixes: Up 280.6% ($888.3 million)
Cases, handbags, wallets: Up 261.6% ($107.6 million)
Imitation jewelry: Up 243.3% ($41.1 million)
Whole fish (frozen): Up 184.2% ($74.6 million)
Other printed pictures, photos: Up 154.9% ($33.9 million)
Electromechanic appliances: Up 132.2% ($37.4 million)
Processed petroleum oils: Up 107.2% ($5.5 billion)
Paper containers, cellulose wadding: Up 106.2% ($62.1 million)

Four among the above top 10 gainers are speciality products and therefore also durable goods that consumers can re-use over time. Those speciality products are spectacles including goggles, fertilizer mixes, miscellaneous pictures and photos, and electromechanics appliances.

Cases, handbags and wallets plus imitation jewelry and paper containers including cellulose wadding are the 3 fastest-growers among the top imported shopping products.

The 3 remaining front-runners are non-durable imported consumer products. These growth leaders are rice, frozen whole fish and processed petroleum oils.

Bangladesh’s Most Valuable Imported Shopping Products

The percentages displayed to the right of each product name reveal the highest increases or decreases in Bangladeshi spending on that specific type of shopping product from 2021 to 2022.

Phone devices including smartphones: US$1,648,629,000 (up 31.7%)
Hot-rolled iron/non-alloy steel items: $763,595,000 (up 53.9%)
Wide knit or crochet fabrics: $586,819,000 (up 62.4%)
Cars: $557,533,000 (up 67.1%)
Motorcycle parts/accessories: $520,139,000 (up 73.7%)
Packaged insecticides, herbicides: $394,568,000 (up 38.5%)
Electrical converters/power units: $344,945,000 (up 27.3%)
Computers, optical readers: $336,941,000 (up 45.2%)
Trucks: $284,035,000 (up 39.5%)
Insoles, heel cushions: $260,209,000 (up 71.4%)
Insulated wire/cable: $256,502,000 (up 66.9%)
Unrecorded sound media: $198,581,000 (up 12.9%)
Rubber tires (new): $176,769,000 (up 42.1%)
Printing machinery: $159,844,000 (up 43.3%)
Automobile parts/accessories: $144,516,000 (up 35%)
Motorcycles: $142,150,000 (up 26.7%)
Tractors: $134,953,000 (up 39.8%)
Miscellaneous iron or steel items: $131,846,000 (up 72.8%)
Lower-voltage switches, fuses: $110,787,000 (up 57.1%)
Cases, handbags, wallets: $107,555,000 (up 261.6%)
Bras, corsets (unknit/non-crochet): $91,168,000 (up 28.5%)
Prepared glues, adhesives: $85,181,000 (up 53.8%)
Aluminum foil: $72,920,000 (up 19.6%)
Footwear (rubber or plastic): $68,384,000 (up 50.3%)
Microphones/headphones/amplifiers: $66,804,000 (up 44.4%)
Computer parts, accessories: $66,155,000 (up 9%)
Paper containers, cellulose wadding: $62,143,000 (up 106.2%)
Screws, bolts, washers, hooks, pins: $60,211,000 (up 70.6%)
Electric lamps: $52,220,000 (up 54.8%)
Miscellaneous textile items: $51,400,000 (down -37%)
Locks, lock-keys: $50,770,000 (up 34.8%)
Miscellaneous toys: $47,930,000 (up 41.6%)
Sports equipment: $46,606,000 (up 31.6%)
Soap, organic surface-active goods: $45,993,000 (up 34.5%)
Vulcanized rubber items: $43,838,000 (up 34.7%)
Imitation jewelry: $41,109,000 (up 243.3%)
Paints, varnishes: $38,870,000 (up 39.7%)
Lubricant/anti-rust preparations: $34,057,000 (up 34.9%)
Miscellaneous furniture: $33,607,000 (up 25%)
Seats (not barber/dentist chairs): $33,134,000 (up 16.5%)
Printed books, brochures: $30,449,000 (down -47.3%)
Orthopedic appliances: $28,569,000 (up 51.6%)

Focusing on the scope of this analysis, shopping products is Bangladesh’s most popular category ahead of both convenience products and speciality items.

Shopping products exceed two-fifths (42) of the overall top 100 Bangladeshi imported consumer goods.

Bangladesh’s Most Valuable Imported Speciality Products

Speciality products represent the category with the fewest entries among Bangladesh’s imports that attracted the greatest Bangladeshi spending on imported consumer goods during 2022.

Selected at the four-digit Harmonized System tariff classification code level, the most valuable speciality items are listed in descending order below.

The percentage to the right of each product name reveal highest increases or decreases in 2022 compared to 2021.

Fertilizer mixes: US$888,276,000 (up 280.6%)
Nitrogenous fertilizers: $502,941,000 (up 98.7%)
Liquid pumps: $437,831,000 (up 63.6%)
Temperature-change machines: $338,512,000 (up 8.2%)
Gold (unwrought): $293,059,000 (down -26.2%)
Sewing machines, related furniture: $276,752,000 (up 87.6%)
Electric generating sets, converters: $190,264,000 (up 14.4%)
Electric storage batteries: $182,399,000 (up 28%)
Electric motors, not generating sets: $170,595,000 (down -32.5%)
Dishwash, clean/dry/fill machines $155,656,000 (up 39.4%)
Air conditioners: $147,943,000 (up 38.7%)
Refrigerators, freezers: $123,547,000 (up 17.3%)
Potassic fertilizers: $108,615,000 (up 1.9%)
Jewelry: $100,005,000 (up 14.4%)
Household base metal mountings: $93,690,000 (up 29.7%)
Electric water heaters, hair dryers: $74,433,000 (up 28.5%)
Liquid crystal/laser/optical tools: $73,680,000 (up 46%)
Iron/steel stoves, barbecues: $61,396,000 (down -14.9%)
Beauty/makeup/skin care: $44,628,000 (up 43.5%)
Electromechanic appliances: $37,353,000 (up 132.2%)
Spectacles, goggles: $36,895,000 (up 284.2%)
Other printed pictures, photos: $33,906,000 (up 154.9%)

Like shopping products, speciality products are considered as durable consumer products.

Overall Worst-Declining Consumer Imports

Spending by import buyers in Bangladesh on the following 10 items decreased in value by the highest percentages from 2020 to 2021.

Printed books, brochures: Down -47.3% ($30.4 million)
Nutmeg, cardamoms: Down -46% ($72.2 million)
Miscellaneous textile items: Down -37% ($51.4 million)
Electric motors excluding generating sets: Down -32.5% ($170.6 million)
Fish or meat flours, pellets: Down -28% ($33.2 million)
Spices ginger, saffron, thyme, curry: Down -26.8% ($99.2 million)
Gold (unwrought): Down -26.2% ($293.1 million)
Peppers: Down -25.2% ($83.3 million)
Onions, garlic, leeks: Down -15.6% ($200.7 million)
Iron/steel stoves, barbecues: Down -14.9% ($61.4 million)

Two categories among Bangladeshi top 10 severest decliners are durable shopping products used over a period of time. The worst slippage among those categories was for Bangladesh’s imported printed books or brochures and miscellaneous items made from textile.

The strongest decline incurred by the 3 durable speciality goods are electric motors excluding generating sets, gold and stoves or barbecues made from iron or steel.

There were 5 non-durable consumer product categories among Bangladesh’s 10 major import decliners from 2020 to 2021, namely nutmeg and cardamoms; fish or meat flours and pellets; spices including ginger, saffron, thyme and curry; peppers; then onions, garlic and leeks.

Key Suppliers by Country

This analysis reveals competitive suppliers that target demand for 5 of Bangladesh’s top consumer import products.

Processed petroleum oils rank as Bangladesh’s biggest imported consumer product by value. The other 4 leading consumer goods imported into Bangladesh are phone devices including smartphones, petroleum gas, palm oil and soya beans.

Below, you will find major supplying countries for Bangladesh’s leading imported commodities based on the most recent data prior to 2021.

Processed petroleum oils: Singapore (53.7% of total), Kuwait (27.3%), Malaysia (8.4%), mainland China (4.5%), India (2.8%), United Arab Emirates (1.4%), Philippines (0.5%), Thailand (0.3%), South Korea (also 0.3%), and Turkey (0.2%).

Phone devices including smartphones: Mainland China (40.9% of total), Hong Kong (35.9%), Singapore (7.5%), Vietnam (7.1%), Sweden (1.9%), India (1.8%), Finland (1.5%), United Arab Emirates (0.8%), Japan (0.7%), and Switzerland (0.6%).

Petroleum gas: Vietnam (47.9% of total), Oman (18.4%), Malaysia (14.9%), mainland China (6%), Indonesia (5.7%), Argentina (2.4%), United States (1.9%), South Korea (1.7%), Singapore (0.9%), and United Arab Emirates (0.2%).

Palm oil: Indonesia (80.1% of total), Malaysia (18.4%), Singapore (1.1%) and South Korea (0.5%).

Soya beans: United States (66% of total), Canada (14.9%), Argentina (13.5%) and Uruguay (5.5%).

References

Independent insights and analysis presented in this article are based on researched facts and statistics sourced from the following educational portals.

BoyceWire, Consumer Goods Definition.

Central Intelligence Agency, The World Factbook: Bangladesh Economy.

International Monetary Fund, World Economic Outlook Databases.

International Trade Centre, Trade Map.

Investopedia, Consumer Goods, Consumer Staples Definition, Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG).

Richest Country Reports, Top 100 Richest Countries by GDP.

Trading Economics, Bangladesh Consumer Spending.

Wikipedia, List of largest consumer markets.

Wikipedia, Bangladesh, Geography of Bangladesh, Languages of Bangladesh.

World’s Top Exports, Bangladesh’s Top 10 Imports.