# Bangladesh and India compared

Bangladesh and India side by side: 41 shared sourced indicators across 9 domains, and the 4 events their chronicles record of each other.

Canonical: https://terralore.co/compare/bgd-vs-ind
Updated: 2026-08-10 (latest of the two dossiers' refreshes and the two chronicles' verification dates)

Two sourced records set beside each other — nothing on this page was written for the pair. Every figure is the same observation, with the same source, as on the two national dossiers; every event is the same record, with the same sources, as on its own chronicle. Figures are compared, never graded. A "—" is an absence in the source data, never a zero; each value shows its own observation year — vintages differ by indicator and nation.

## Formation

- Bangladesh: 26 March 1971 — Sheikh Mujibur Rahman declares the independence of Bangladesh
- India: c. 320 BCE — Chandragupta Maurya founds the Maurya Empire

## Economy

| Metric | Bangladesh | Observed | India | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GDP | $450 B | 2024 | $3.91 T | 2024 |
| GDP per capita | $2,593 | 2024 | $2,695 | 2024 |
| GDP growth | 4.2% | 2024 | 6.5% | 2024 |
| Inflation | 10.5% | 2024 | 5.0% | 2024 |
| Trade openness | 26.8% | 2024 | 44.6% | 2024 |

## Society

| Metric | Bangladesh | Observed | India | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Population | 174 m | 2024 | 1.45 bn | 2024 |
| Life expectancy | 74.9 yrs | 2024 | 72.2 yrs | 2024 |
| Urban population | 32.7% | 2024 | 35.4% | 2024 |
| Fertility rate | 2.1 | 2024 | 2.0 | 2024 |

## Governance

| Metric | Bangladesh | Observed | India | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Voice & accountability | 36.5 | 2024 | 55.5 | 2024 |
| Political stability | 40.9 | 2024 | 52.5 | 2024 |
| Government effectiveness | 39.3 | 2024 | 59.2 | 2024 |
| Regulatory quality | 39.9 | 2024 | 53.3 | 2024 |
| Rule of law | 40.4 | 2024 | 56.3 | 2024 |
| Control of corruption | 25.5 | 2024 | 41.9 | 2024 |

## Health

| Metric | Bangladesh | Observed | India | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Health spending | 2.2% | 2023 | 3.3% | 2023 |
| Physicians | 0.72 | 2023 | 0.72 | 2020 |
| Under-5 mortality | 30.5 | 2024 | 26.6 | 2024 |
| Measles immunisation | 96.0% | 2024 | 97.0% | 2024 |
| Safe drinking water | 59.1% | 2024 | 76.4% | 2024 |

## Education

| Metric | Bangladesh | Observed | India | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adult literacy | 79.0% | 2022 | 78.2% | 2024 |
| Education spending | 2.0% | 2024 | 4.1% | 2022 |
| Primary enrolment | 106.5% | 2024 | 111.0% | 2025 |
| Secondary enrolment | 64.3% | 2024 | 79.6% | 2025 |
| Tertiary enrolment | 23.7% | 2024 | 34.4% | 2025 |

## Technology

| Metric | Bangladesh | Observed | India | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Internet users | 53.4% | 2024 | 70.0% | 2025 |
| Mobile subscriptions | 108 | 2024 | 79 | 2024 |
| High-tech exports | 0.5% | 2018 | 18.6% | 2024 |
| R&D spending | — | — | 0.6% | 2020 |
| Researchers (per million) | — | — | 259 | 2020 |

## Geography

| Metric | Bangladesh | Observed | India | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Land area | 129,980 km² | 2023 | 2,973,190 km² | 2023 |
| Forest area | 14.5% | 2023 | 24.5% | 2023 |
| Agricultural land | 72.3% | 2023 | 60.1% | 2023 |
| CO₂ per capita (t) | 0.7 | 2024 | 2.2 | 2024 |
| Renewable energy | 25.0% | 2021 | 34.9% | 2021 |

## Resources

| Metric | Bangladesh | Observed | India | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Resource rents | 0.6% | 2021 | 3.2% | 2021 |
| Oil rents | 0.0% | 2021 | 0.3% | 2021 |
| Mineral rents | 0.0% | 2021 | 1.3% | 2021 |
| Forest rents | 0.1% | 2021 | 0.2% | 2021 |
| Electricity access | 99.5% | 2023 | 99.5% | 2023 |
| Copper (mined) | — | — | 23.0 kt | 2025 |
| Iron ore | — | — | 310 Mt | 2025 |
| Rare earths | — | — | 2,900 t | 2025 |
| Bauxite | — | — | 25 Mt | 2025 |
| Zinc (mined) | — | — | 870 kt | 2025 |
| Phosphate rock | — | — | 1.5 Mt | 2025 |

## Military

| Metric | Bangladesh | Observed | India | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Military burden | 0.9% | 2024 | 2.3% | 2024 |
| Defense spending | $4.0 B | 2024 | $86 B | 2024 |
| Armed forces | 227,000 | 2020 | 3.1 m | 2020 |

Each metric is also ranked across all nations: https://terralore.co/rankings (markdown twins at /rankings/<metric>.md). Full dossiers: https://terralore.co/country/BGD.md and https://terralore.co/country/IND.md.

## Entangled histories (4 events)

Events in which either nation's sourced chronicle names the other — including under earlier names of the same state. Each is the record exactly as its own chronicle carries it, with that chronicle's sources.

- 23 Jun 1757: **Battle of Plassey** — Robert Clive's East India Company forces defeat Nawab Siraj-ud-Daulah after the betrayal of Mir Jafar, beginning British political control of Bengal and, in time, of India. (from the Bangladesh chronicle; sources: Battle of Plassey; Sirāj al-Dawlah)
- 1947: **Partition creates East Pakistan** — The partition of British India makes Muslim-majority eastern Bengal into East Pakistan, a wing of the new state separated from its western half by a thousand miles of India. (from the Bangladesh chronicle; sources: History of Bangladesh)
- 16 Dec 1971: **Victory and the birth of Bangladesh** — After a nine-month war in which possibly a million Bengalis were killed and ten million fled to India, Indian forces intervene and the Pakistani army surrenders at Dhaka, founding the People's Republic of Bangladesh. (from the Bangladesh chronicle; sources: Bangladesh Liberation War)
- 5 Aug 2024: **The 2024 uprising and Hasina's fall** — A student-led mass uprising over a civil-service job-quota system forces Sheikh Hasina to resign after fifteen years and flee to India; the Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus is appointed to head an interim government. (from the Bangladesh chronicle; sources: Sheikh Hasina Wazed)

## Sources

- World Development Indicators — World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-06-14 · https://data.worldbank.org
- Worldwide Governance Indicators (via World Bank API) — Worldwide Governance Indicators / World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-08-10 · https://www.worldbank.org/en/publication/worldwide-governance-indicators
- Global Health Observatory (WHO, via World Bank WDI) — WHO / World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-08-10 · https://www.who.int/data/gho
- Child mortality & immunisation estimates (UN IGME and WHO/UNICEF, via World Bank WDI) — UNICEF and WHO / World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-08-10 · https://childmortality.org
- R&D statistics (UNESCO UIS, via World Bank WDI) — UNESCO Institute for Statistics / World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-06-15 · https://uis.unesco.org
- ICT indicators (ITU, via World Bank WDI) — ITU / World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-06-15 · https://www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Statistics
- Military Expenditure Database (via World Development Indicators) — SIPRI / World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-06-14 · https://www.sipri.org/databases/milex
- Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026 — U.S. Geological Survey · Public domain (U.S. Government work) · accessed 2026-08-10 · https://www.usgs.gov/centers/national-minerals-information-center

Chronicle references are cited inline above and resolve in full at https://terralore.co/country/BGD/chronicle.md and https://terralore.co/country/IND/chronicle.md.

Citation template: Terralore, "Bangladesh and India compared", terralore.co/compare/bgd-vs-ind, retrieved <YYYY-MM-DD>.