Bangladesh Potato Industry: 7th-Largest Producer, Now Fighting a Structural Surplus (11–13M Tonnes)
Bangladesh grows more potatoes than it can profitably sell — a 3–4 million tonne annual surplus against a 3–4 million tonne cold-storage shortfall crashed farmgate prices below production cost in 2024-25. The country exports less than 1% of what it grows.
- Production (FY2024-25): 11.57M tonnes (DAE)
- Global rank: 6th–7th largest producer
- Domestic demand: 7–9M tonnes
- Surplus (FY2024-25): 3–4M tonnes
- Cold storage capacity: 3–6M tonnes (350–400 facilities)
- Exports: <1% of production
Bangladesh produced 11.57 million tonnes of potatoes in FY2024-25 (DAE) — other readings put the 2024 calendar year as high as 13 million tonnes (BCSA estimate) — making it the world's 6th-to-7th largest producer. But production has outpaced demand: domestic consumption is only 7–9 million tonnes, leaving a structural surplus of 3–4 million tonnes that collided with a cold-storage shortfall (350–400 facilities holding just 3–6 million tonnes) in 2024-25, crashing farmgate prices to Tk 7–10/kg — below the estimated Tk 14/kg production cost. Rangpur Division alone grows roughly a quarter of the national crop, and Bangladesh exports less than 1% of what it produces, primarily to Malaysia, Nepal, and Sri Lanka.
In this article (10 sections)▾
How big is Bangladesh's potato industry?
Bangladesh produced 11.57 million tonnes in FY2024-25 (DAE), or as much as 13 million tonnes on a 2024 calendar-year basis (BCSA estimate) — on a cultivated area of roughly 495,000–524,000 hectares, up 15% year-on-year. That makes Bangladesh the world's 6th-to-7th largest potato producer, and potato is the country's single most important Rabi (winter) crop.
- FY2014-15 production: 9.25M tonnes
- FY2015-16 production: 9.47M tonnes
- FY2024-25 production: 11.57M tonnes (DAE)
- 2024 calendar year: 13M tonnes (BCSA est.)
| Year | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mt | 9.74 | 9.65 | 9.61 | 9.89 | 10.14 | 10.43 | 10.60 |
| YoY | — | -0.9% | -0.5% | +2.9% | +2.6% | +2.8% | +1.6% |
Yield has climbed steadily — from 19.6 t/ha in FY2014-15 to nearly 23 t/ha a decade later — but the defining fact of Bangladesh's potato economy right now isn't production growth, it's the gap between what the country grows and what it can actually sell or store. High-Yielding Varieties (HYV) account for over 91% of national output; local varieties make up the rest.
Source: BBS (Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics) Agriculture Wing; DAE (Department of Agricultural Extension); BCSA (Bangladesh Cold Storage Association).
Why did Bangladesh's potato prices crash in 2024-25?
Domestic demand is only 7–9 million tonnes (BARI/BBS) against production of 11–13 million tonnes — a structural 3–4 million tonne annual surplus. In 2024-25, farmgate prices crashed to Tk 7–10/kg, below the estimated Tk 14/kg production cost.
The mechanics are straightforward: production has grown faster than either domestic consumption or storage/export capacity can absorb. Around 1.2 million tonnes remained in cold storage with only months to sell, and BCSA estimated 20–30% of stored stock was at risk of going unsold without price intervention — with roughly 8 million tonnes overall at risk of spoilage due to inadequate storage across the season.
Source: BCSA (Bangladesh Cold Storage Association); DAE; Ministry of Agriculture Bangladesh.
Which regions produce the most potatoes in Bangladesh?
Rangpur and Rajshahi Divisions together hold 71% of national potato area and Rangpur alone contributes roughly a quarter of national output. Munshiganj district (under Dhaka Division) is the single highest-yielding district in the country.
Dhaka Division's high average yield is driven almost entirely by one district: Munshiganj, which produced 1.24 million tonnes from 38,205 hectares at 32.5 t/ha — the highest yield of any district in Bangladesh, and a historic potato-growing area located near the capital. Sylhet, by contrast, has the lowest yield in the country at 11.2 t/ha.
| Division | Area (ha) | Production (t) | Yield (t/ha) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rangpur | 180,423 | 3,407,606 | 18.9 |
| Rajshahi | 157,879 | 3,059,845 | 19.4 |
| Dhaka | 57,480 | 1,584,814 | 27.6 |
| Chittagong | 36,119 | 683,110 | 18.9 |
| Mymensingh | 14,886 | 217,149 | 14.6 |
| Khulna | 14,444 | 289,415 | 20.0 |
| Barisal | 8,992 | 173,008 | 19.2 |
| Sylhet | 5,265 | 59,151 | 11.2 |
Source: BBS, Estimates of Potato 2015-16, Agriculture Wing.
When is Bangladesh's potato season?
Bangladesh runs a single annual crop — the Rabi (winter) season, planted October–November and harvested February–March. Unlike Egypt's four overlapping seasons, there is no second Bangladeshi potato season.
- Season: Rabi (winter), single crop
- Planting: October – November
- Harvest: February – March
Compressing the entire national harvest into a single narrow window is a major structural driver of Bangladesh's storage and pricing problems: the whole year's supply hits the market and storage system within a few months, with nothing to smooth it out until the next October planting.
Source: FAO Bangladesh Country Office; BARI; DAE.
What potato varieties are grown in Bangladesh?
Diamant (Netherlands) is the single most widely grown variety, imported alongside Cardinal, Granola, and Asterix. BARI (Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute) has developed 106 varieties in total, but only 14 are officially recognised as meeting export standards — and in practice, just 8–10 varieties are actually shipped abroad.
BADC and private firms have introduced 94 additional non-notified varieties on top of BARI's 106, but only 5 of those are considered exportable — a regulatory bottleneck that keeps Bangladesh's actual export-variety base narrow even though its total varietal portfolio is large. BARI specifically bred Sunshine for overseas markets as part of a deliberate export-development push.
| Variety | Origin | Role |
|---|---|---|
| Diamant | Netherlands | Most widely grown; dominant import |
| Cardinal | Netherlands | Red-skinned, popular fresh market |
| Granola | Netherlands | Widely consumed fresh; key export variety |
| Asterix | Netherlands | Used for processing |
| Courage | — | Newer high-yielding variety; exported |
| Sunshine | Bangladesh (BARI) | Bred specifically for export markets |
| BARI Alu varieties | Bangladesh (BARI) | Locally bred, part of the 106-variety portfolio |
Source: BARI (Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute); DAE; Ministry of Agriculture Bangladesh.
Where does Bangladesh get its seed potatoes?
Bangladesh imports seed primarily from the Netherlands and India, with Diamant the dominant imported variety. Only about 20% of farmers use certified seed — the rest rely on farm-saved seed, affecting yield consistency and disease management.
India is Bangladesh's #1 source for imported seed potatoes specifically (as distinct from India also being a destination market for Bangladeshi table potato exports in some years). BARI's breeding program is the main domestic counterweight to import dependence, but certified-seed adoption remains low nationally.
Source: FAO Bangladesh Country Office; BARI.
How big is Bangladesh's cold-storage gap?
Bangladesh has approximately 350–400 cold-storage facilities with 3–6 million tonnes of combined capacity — against production of 11–13 million tonnes, a structural gap of roughly 4–5 million tonnes that almost all falls on the private sector to solve.
Almost all cold storage is privately owned, with limited government facilities. FAO Bangladesh identifies limited cold-storage capacity as one of the most critical structural constraints across the entire value chain — and it's the direct mechanical cause of the 2024-25 price crash: with nowhere to put a 3–4 million tonne surplus, prices had nowhere to go but down.
Source: BCSA (Bangladesh Cold Storage Association); FAO Bangladesh Country Office.
Where does Bangladesh export its potatoes?
Bangladesh exports less than 1% of its production. Malaysia takes more than a third of exports (the largest single market), with Nepal and Sri Lanka each taking roughly a fifth.
Officials from the Ministry of Agriculture are actively pursuing Russia, Fiji, and Vietnam as new export markets — part of a deliberate push to turn some of the structural surplus into export revenue rather than domestic price collapse. FAO's "Missing Middle Initiative" (funded by the Global Agriculture and Food Security Program) links Rangpur smallholders directly with exporters through the Bangladesh Potato Exporters' Association (BPEA).
| Market | Approx. share | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Malaysia | >33% | Largest single export market |
| Nepal | ~20% | Also a growing frozen-fry destination for India |
| Sri Lanka | ~20% | Established market |
| Myanmar, Singapore, UAE, Brunei, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Jordan, Lebanon | Remainder | Smaller, diversified Gulf + Southeast Asia demand |
Source: FAO Bangladesh Country Office; Ministry of Agriculture Bangladesh.
Which institutions run Bangladesh's potato sector?
Five institutions anchor the sector: the Ministry of Agriculture (policy), DAE (extension services), BADC (seed multiplication), BARI (variety research), and BBS Agriculture Wing (official statistics).
Bangladesh has run export-oriented potato production support since 2019 in partnership with FAO, and the sector's structural problems — storage, phytosanitary standards, market linkages, post-harvest handling — are consistently named by FAO as the levers that would let more of the current surplus become export revenue instead of a farmgate price collapse.
Source: FAO Bangladesh Country Office; Ministry of Agriculture Bangladesh; BARI.
What are Bangladesh's biggest potato-sector challenges?
Four structural constraints recur across every official assessment: limited cold-storage capacity, absence of standard phytosanitary laboratories (a barrier to more export markets), gaps in market linkages between farmers and exporters, and the need for improved post-harvest handling.
Unlike most major producers, Bangladesh's core problem isn't growing enough potatoes — it's that production, storage, and export-market development haven't grown in step with each other. The 2024-25 price crash is the clearest possible illustration: a country that's a top-7 global producer, still exporting under 1% of its crop and watching farmgate prices fall below the cost of production.
Source: FAO Bangladesh Country Office; BCSA; DAE.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much potato does Bangladesh produce per year?+
Bangladesh produced 11.57 million tonnes in FY2024-25 (DAE), with a separate 2024 calendar-year estimate as high as 13 million tonnes (BCSA) — making it the world's 6th-to-7th largest potato producer.
Why did potato prices crash in Bangladesh in 2024-25?+
Production (11–13 million tonnes) far outpaced both domestic demand (7–9 million tonnes) and cold-storage capacity (3–6 million tonnes across 350–400 facilities), creating a 3–4 million tonne structural surplus. Farmgate prices fell to Tk 7–10/kg, below the estimated Tk 14/kg cost of production.
Which region produces the most potatoes in Bangladesh?+
Rangpur Division, which together with Rajshahi Division holds 71% of national potato area. Rangpur alone contributes roughly a quarter of national output. Munshiganj district (Dhaka Division) has the country's highest yield at 32.5 t/ha.
Does Bangladesh export potatoes?+
Yes, but a very small share — less than 1% of production. Malaysia is the largest market (over a third of exports), followed by Nepal and Sri Lanka (roughly a fifth each), with smaller volumes to Myanmar, Singapore, and several Gulf states.
What potato variety is most grown in Bangladesh?+
Diamant, a Dutch-bred variety, is the single most widely grown potato in Bangladesh, alongside Cardinal, Granola, and Asterix. High-Yielding Varieties overall account for over 91% of national production.
How much cold storage does Bangladesh have for potatoes?+
Approximately 350–400 cold-storage facilities with combined capacity of 3–6 million tonnes — almost entirely privately owned — against production of 11–13 million tonnes, leaving a structural storage gap of 4–5 million tonnes.
Regional context
Continue Reading
Further reading
Deeper Potatopedia references on seed systems, processing, varieties, and global potato production.