Bangladesh can track how many students take public exams and how many mobile phone subscriptions are active. The country monitors exports, remittances, inflation, births and deaths with growing accuracy.
But when it comes to persons with disabilities, one of the country’s most overlooked groups, Bangladesh still cannot answer how many there are.
Behind all our development statistics lies a silent exclusion: Persons with disabilities remain undercounted, misclassified, or absent from national data systems.
When people disappear from data, they disappear from policy priorities, budgets, employment, infrastructure and opportunity. This invisibility limits access to education, healthcare and jobs, and restricts their ability to contribute to society.
Government sources report widely varying figures. The 2011 Census by the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics found 1.43% of the population had a disability, while a 2010 Department of Social Services survey reported over 7%.
These discrepancies highlight the lack of consistent data across agencies, which is not just about numbers. It shows a problem with how the country plans for everyone.
In a country of 20 million people, if one agency says 1.43% of people have disabilities and another says 7%, that difference means millions could be left out of schools, transport, healthcare, digital services or jobs.
It is like building roads without knowing how many cars will use them, and this is exactly what is happening with disability inclusion.
Bangladesh has made progress in digital technology, but information about persons with disabilities remains scattered across agencies and databases that rarely connect.
This has real consequences. Policy-makers do not have clear data on how many people with disabilities are unemployed, have skills, need support or which jobs could include them.
For example, the Skills for Employment Investment Program could not set realistic goals because there was no single data source on candidates with disabilities. Efforts to make public transport in Dhaka more accessible have also overlooked important needs due to insufficient local data on the types and numbers of people with disabilities.
Even with digital records, the government reportedly cannot say how many people with disabilities work in public service. These gaps mean missed chances for better policies, wasted resources and slower progress on inclusion.
We can only manage what we measure. What stays invisible is ignored.
Businesses also suffer. Many want to support inclusion, but without data, they can only assume. Employers claim they cannot find skilled candidates with disabilities, but advocates point to a lack of good data, inclusive education and accessible hiring. Data gaps also hide how disability intersects with gender, rural location or poverty, making effective policy even harder.
Because of this exclusion, Bangladesh may already be missing out on significant economic potential.
Globally, disability inclusion is seen as economic participation, not charity. People with disabilities offer valuable skills, are consumers and add to diversity and innovation.
Bangladesh must move beyond seeing disability as a matter of sympathy. True inclusion means recognizing people with disabilities as contributors to the economy, not just recipients of aid.
What should be done? Three key steps:
First, set up a single national system for disability data. The government should start by forming a task force comprising representatives from ministries and key agencies, including NGOs, organizations for persons with disabilities (OPDs) and civil society, in the areas of education, healthcare and jobs. This group can lead coordination, establish shared data standards and ensure each agency understands its role.
Second, this national data system should collect information not only on disability status but also on access to education, transport, digital services, job training, and financial support. This complete data will help make policies that work.
Third, inclusion should be part of regular economic planning. Disability should not be just a special topic for December 3 every year, when we observe the International Day for Persons with Disabilities. It needs to be included in HR strategy, city planning, digital changes, financial inclusion, public buying and national productivity discussions.
Some organizations already show that employees with disabilities excel when given the opportunity and when workplaces are accessible.
Bangladesh has shown it can drive social change when government, business, NGOs and development partners work together - reducing poverty, expanding microfinance, improving education. Disability inclusion deserves the same urgent focus. Civil society and grassroots initiatives must raise awareness, help identify unregistered individuals and hold institutions accountable.
The government must lead on building unified disability data and set standards. The private sector can collect workforce data, promote inclusive hiring and support skill-building. NGOs and civil society can collect community data, raise awareness and hold institutions accountable. When every group acts, real inclusion becomes possible.
This is not only an economic issue but a moral one. Accurate disability data is essential to upholding rights and dignity, as Bangladesh has committed to doing so under the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the SDGs.
A society’s progress is not just GDP growth, but who shares in it. When millions are missing from data, they are left out of the economy. As per the ILO, closing the employment gap for people with disabilities could raise GDP by 3-7%.
If we could tap everyone’s talents, including those of persons with disabilities, we could generate billions of dollars in annual productivity, innovation and participation. Missing out means losing not just productivity, but also dignity and social unity.
Data is more than numbers. It decides who gets jobs, education and support, and who feels included. Our future depends on ensuring no one is left invisible.
Shafiq R Bhuiyan is working at BRAC Bank as a Vice President and Head of Internal Communication and CSR.