Violence cost Bangladesh $35.64bn in 2019: Study

On her return home from work, Nazma Matbar found her things scattered across her room. She instantly knew it was her husband who had ransacked the place to find her saved-up cash to buy drugs after she refused to give him any more money. 

The middle-aged garment worker and her husband Shahjalal Khan were locked into an argument as she charged him.  In the heat of it, Shahjalal hit her hard that she blacked out. 

Waking up, she found herself at a hospital. Her neighbour had admitted her to the hospital and contacted her mother. 

"My mother bore all the treatment expenditure. My husband did not show up until a month later to demand more money. I have tried to divorce him but local leaders, who are in his fold, did not let this happen," Nazma said.

She feels she is stuck in an unhappy marriage and that she is being robbed of her hard-earned money every now and then because of her husband's addiction.   

The violence that Nazma has been enduring has a significant economic impact apart from emotional exhaustion. 

A report published by Sydney-based Institute for Economics & Peace (IEP) on January 27 shed light on the economic impact of violence on Bangladesh's economy. 

The think-tank estimated that violence cost the country $35.64 billion in constant purchasing power parity (PPP) terms in 2019, increased by 58.4% from $22.5 billion in 2007. 

Globally, the economic impact of violence improved for the second year in a row in 2019, decreasing by 0.4% from a year earlier, while Bangladesh saw it go up by 4.3%. 

The global economic impact of violence was $14.4 trillion in 2019, equivalent to 10.5% of the global gross domestic product or $1,895 per person, according to the report titled "Economic value of peace 2021: Measuring the global economic impact of violence and conflict".  

The impact of violence is translated into the expenditure and economic effect related to "containing, preventing and dealing with the consequences of violence". It is measured based on 18 indicators, such as military expenditure, internal security expenditure, conflict deaths, terrorism deaths and injuries and losses from the status as refugee. 

Countries like Bangladesh have limited resources, said Prof Sayema Haque Bidisha, of the economics department, Dhaka University. So, the allocation of resources to maintain peace causes inadequacy of resources in other important sectors. 

"As we know, the budgetary allocation for education and health is not sufficient." 

Explaining economic loss suffered at the personal level, she said the productivity of a person might be affected when he was in fear of falling victim to violence. 

"In a broader perspective, we may face difficulties in achieving sustain development goals (SDGs)," Sayema said. 

The total economic impact in the report was broken down into direct and indirect costs of violence and the expenditures to contain and prevent violence. The estimates also included economic multiplier effect such as "additional economic benefits that would come from investment in business development or education instead of containing or dealing with violence". 

Direct and indirect costs of violence amounted to $21.65 billion in Bangladesh in 2019, which is equivalent to 3% of the country's GDP. The per capita economic impact of violence is equivalent to $214.25. 

The $1.27 trillion price tag for South Asia

The report also says South Asia is the second least peaceful region after the Middle East and North Africa and has one of the widest disparities between its most and least peaceful countries.

The economic impact of violence rose 6% in 2019 to $1.27 trillion in constant purchasing power parity terms, which is the highest in the region. It has been on the rise since 2013. 

Among South Asian countries, the economic impact of violence was the highest -- $991.19 billion -- in India in 2019, followed by Pakistan ($151.68 billion), Afghanistan ($56.14 billion), and Bangladesh.

Bhutan and Sri Lanka saw the impact reduced by 23.6% and 38.7% in 2019, compared to 2007. 

Violence cost Bhutan $1.19 billion, Nepal $7.45 billion and Sri Lanka $29.55 billion in 2019.   

Afghanistan saw more violence in 2019, resulting in a 124.4% increase in the economic impact of violence from 2007. 

Ummay Marzan Jui, a feature reporter of The Business Standard also contributed to this report.