Orange economy jobs grow 237% in a decade, yet it lacks policy

Highlights 

• Bangladesh's orange economy employed 112,829 people in 2024 up 237% from 2013.
• The sector contributed Tk9,193 crore to GDP in FY25, growing 15.4% year-on-year.
• It is expanding faster than agriculture, industry and services, but still makes up only 0.17% of GDP.
• Despite rapid growth, the sector still lacks a dedicated national policy framework.
• Public investment remains limited, with culture-related ministries receiving only 0.81% of the development budget in FY26.
• The government aims to raise the creative economy to 1.5% of GDP and create 500,000 jobs.

Bangladesh's creative or orange economy is expanding at a pace that outperforms much of the broader economy, yet it remains almost invisible in policy. 

New data show the sector has contributed over Tk9,000 crore to GDP in the previous fiscal year, raising a pressing question: why is one of the fastest-growing economic segments still treated as culture, not commerce?

The Economic Census 2024 by the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) found that employment in the Arts, Entertainment and Recreation sector jumped to 1,12,829 in 2024, a 237% increase from just 33,441 in 2013.

Infograph: TBS

The surge comes despite the absence of any explicit policy push, suggesting that market demand, digital platforms and a growing freelance ecosystem are driving expansion on their own.

Rapid growth, limited share

The macroeconomic picture supports that trend. The sector contributed Tk9,193 crore to GDP in the fiscal 2024-25, a 15.4% increase from the previous fiscal year, significantly higher than the national nominal GDP growth rate of 10.2%. 

In comparative terms, the creative economy is now growing faster than agriculture (12.8%), industry (10%) and services (11.8%), albeit from a much smaller base, according to BBS data.

Still, its footprint in the overall economy remains marginal. At just 0.17% of a Tk55 lakh crore economy, the sector's contribution is overshadowed by traditional growth engines. Economists say this contrast – rapid expansion alongside minimal policy recognition – points to a structural gap in how Bangladesh defines and supports emerging sources of economic value.

For decades, economic policy has prioritised manufacturing, remittances and agriculture, leaving creativity outside the formal development framework. But with a fast-growing workforce and growing output, the data suggest that the question is no longer whether the creative economy matters, but why it continues to operate without a clear policy anchor.

Sakib Bin Amin, a professor of economics at North South University, told The Business Standard that Bangladesh's creative industry remains largely informal. Even though the industry's growth looks positive on paper, practitioners often struggle to survive as they lack a safety net, no pensions, no retirement benefits, and no professional protection, he said.

The current state of the creative industry in Bangladesh is defined by profound job insecurity, said Prof Sakib.

"For example, perhaps only 5% of our musicians can afford to treat their craft as a full-time profession. For the rest, it becomes a 'second job' due to a lack of financial sustainability. We also see a 'seasonal' earning cycle, where even the most talented individuals are forced to migrate or leave the industry entirely in search of stability," he said.

To address these gaps, Prof Sakib said, "To transform this sector, the government must formally recognise it under a policy framework and integrate artists into national pension and benefit schemes.

He said policymakers must focus on inclusion and decentralisation, ensuring that rural talent and female artists receive the institutional support needed to professionalise their craft.

What is orange economy

The term "orange economy" coined by Felipe Buitrago and Iván Duque in their 2013 book "The Orange Economy: An Infinite Opportunity" captures a wide spectrum of creative industries, from art, crafts and films to fashion, music, cultural heritage and video games. Globally, it has turned creativity into a multi-trillion-dollar engine of growth.

In Bangladesh, however, that transformation remains incomplete. Artists, designers, freelancers, athletes and storytellers are still largely viewed as cultural contributors rather than economic actors, leaving a fast-emerging sector outside the country's core policy framework.

For generations, families have followed a familiar script: education, a conventional profession, and financial stability. Creativity rarely figured in that roadmap – not for lack of talent, but because economic policies offered little incentive to pursue it as a viable career.

Global evidence, however, points in a different direction. In its last Creative Economy Outlook 2024, UN Trade and Development revealed the growing role of creative industries in trade and economic expansion. Across countries, the sector contributes between 0.5% and 7.3% of GDP and accounts for 0.5% to 12.5% of total employment – underscoring its potential as both a growth driver and a source of jobs.

"The creative economy has the right forces pushing its sails. This is not just art. It is an economic powerhouse that we must harness together, leaving no one behind," said Rebeca Grynspan, secretary-general of UNCTAD, in the report.

Low public investment

A long view of Bangladesh's budgets tells a remarkably consistent story. Over a decade from FY12 to FY26, three ministries of recreation and culture development central to the orange economy – the cultural affairs ministry, the information and broadcasting ministry, and the youth and sports ministry – have received below 1% of the total development budget for 15 years.

For FY26 original budget, together, their combined development budget allocation stands at Tk1,982 crore – a figure that represents a mere 0.81% of the total development budget of Tk2,45,609 crore. Meanwhile, it was 0.61% in FY12.

The country saw 20 basis points of movement in 15 years, while the creative workforce tripled.

At the same time, education has remained one of the top recipients of public expenditure, third only to public administration and interest payments, but it remains disconnected from the creative economy.

If the orange economy is to grow meaningfully, experts say, it should not come from recreation and culture ministries alone; it should come from classrooms. The issue is not spending more, but spending differently: aligning education with creativity, skills, and content production. That is where the real shift begins.

Regional comparison and policy gap

The regional contrast makes that habit harder to defend. India is strengthening the orange economy and positioning it as a global hub for content creation. Many initiatives have been launched.

In February 2026, in its Union Budget, India announced the establishment of AVGC – Animation, Visual Effects, Gaming and Comics – Content Creator Labs across 15,000 secondary schools and 500 colleges nationwide.

The Indian Institute of Creative Technologies, Mumbai, has been designated as the nodal agency for planning, coordination and phased rollout of the Content Creators' Labs.

The announcement did not arrive without preparation. India's AVGC Promotion Task Force, constituted in April 2022, spent years developing a comprehensive national strategy and policy.

Every economy chooses what it decides to grow. Bangladesh chose garments. That was rational in 1990. In 2026, with a $456 billion economy, that single choice still defines the country's economic identity – while the orange economy, an emerging sector with proven growth momentum, waits for a strong policy decision that has not come.

In search of its next engine of growth, Bangladesh does not have to look far for a model. A dedicated task force and a national orange or creative economy strategy could be the institutional turning point.

Five lakh jobs, 1.5% of GDP: A promise waiting for a plan

There are early signs that the newly elected government of Bangladesh is beginning to connect culture with economic possibilities.

The government has initiated the recruitment of sports and music teachers in primary schools and introduced incentive schemes for athletes.

A nationwide grassroots sports initiative, "Notun Kuri Sports," launched on 2 May, aiming to identify talented athletes from the grassroots across the country.

In its election manifesto, the ruling BNP committed to the development of the creative economy to 1.5% of GDP, generating five lakh jobs, establishing regional creative hubs, forming a long-term investment fund, and building a formal institutional framework.

It also emphasised sports, national culture, and creative talent development in primary and secondary education.

Meanwhile, the next national budget for FY27 knocks at a hopeful moment. For once, the numbers, the political will, and the sector's own momentum are pointing in the same direction.

The good news is that Finance Minister Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury said at a pre-budget discussion with the leaders of the Economic Reporters' Forum on 25 April that the creative economy will be recognised in the upcoming budget.

He noted that the government is working to bring rural cottage industries, artisans and creative industries into the mainstream.

The finance minister also said sports, culture, theatre, cinema and music sectors are also being given importance as part of the economy, which were neglected until now.