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The EU has also moved to reform its GSP+ scheme to improve accessibility for vulnerable economies, including future LDC graduates. Some of the recent reforms aim to better accommodate populous graduating LDCs such as Bangladesh.

Meanwhile, the UK and Canada have introduced analogous preference programmes of their own, titled “Enhanced Preferences” and General Preferential Tariff Plus (GPTP), respectively.

‘STRUCTURAL WEAKNESSES EXPOSED’

An economist says the findings should serve as a wake-up call.

Ashikur Rahman, principal economist at the Policy Research Institute of Bangladesh (PRI), said the UNCTAD projections highlight how deeply the country’s trade competitiveness depends on preferential access.

“While this estimate does, on the surface, look very high, with more than 90 percent of exports benefiting from such preferences, the transition to a post-LDC regime will expose structural weaknesses, particularly our heavy reliance on a narrow set of products and markets,” he said.

Rahman said the message is clear: graduation cannot be treated as a symbolic achievement alone.

“It must be accompanied by urgent and credible reforms: securing trade agreements, especially with the EU, improving logistics and energy reliability, and enabling firms to move up the value chain. Without this, preference erosion could translate into real economic stress.

“With the right reforms, however, graduation can become a turning point towards a more resilient and competitive export economy,” he added.