Bangladeshi handicraft industry generates an estimated amount of Tk 2,430 crore, but household-based businesses earn three times less than separate establishments.
The information was published in a survey on the handicraft industry by the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS), in collaboration with the Joyeeta Foundation and the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs.
The first-of-its-kind survey, titled ‘Handicrafts Survey, Bangladesh 2022,’ found that the industry is mainly driven by bamboo and cane, followed by pottery, Tepa Puppetry, Nakshi Kantha, and Kurushkantha products.
Bangladesh has a total of 73,542 handicraft establishments across the country, of which 97.6 per cent are household-based. The industry is dominated by female entrepreneurs, who own 51.2 per cent of the establishments, while their male counterparts own 48.8 per cent.
A total of 1,48,656 people are engaged in the handicrafts industry, with 95.8 per cent belonging to households-based businesses and 4.2 from separate establishments. Of the workers, 55.8 per cent are female and 44.2 per cent are male.
According to the survey findings, of the estimated establishments, 32,224 bamboo and cane industries occupy 43.8 per cent of total establishments, 19.2 per cent of pottery and tepa puppetry and 7.8 per cent kuruskantha product industry.
Of the total employed persons in the industry, 66.5 per cent took handicrafts as their main profession while the rest worked part-time.
Over 55.1 per cent of the workers are from the Hindu religion followed by 39.7 per cent from the Muslim community while, 4.5 per cent of employees belong to ethnic minority groups.
