PM Tarique’s approval stands at 66.3% as public concerns grow over government performance

A national public opinion survey has found that 66.3% of respondents believe Prime Minister Tarique Rahman is doing his job well, while the government’s overall approval stands at 54.5%.

The findings come from the Doppler Approval Rating Survey 2026, conducted as the BNP-led government completed its first 180 days in office. The survey was conducted from August 6 to 15 among 3,443 adults through telephone interviews across 489 wards and villages in all 64 districts. The results were weighted using 2022 census data.

According to the survey, 21.6% of respondents rated the prime minister’s performance negatively, while 12.1% either had no opinion or declined to answer. For the government as a whole, 32.9% gave a negative assessment and 12.6% had no opinion.

The prime minister’s approval was relatively consistent across age, gender, education and income groups, ranging from 61.7% to 70.3%. It was also above 62.3% in all eight divisions, according to the survey.

Views on the country’s direction

Despite the prime minister’s approval rating, views were more divided on the country’s overall direction.

The survey found that 48.6% of respondents believed Bangladesh was moving in the right direction, while 35.6% said it was moving in the wrong direction. Another 15.8% did not answer or had no opinion.

The survey also found differences across political groups and regions. However, Doppler cautioned that subgroup figures are based on smaller samples and therefore carry wider margins of uncertainty.

Electricity and prices top concerns

Electricity and fuel emerged as the most frequently cited national problem, with 59.5% of respondents identifying them as a major concern. The prices of essential goods followed at 59.1%, while law and order was cited by 32.6% and employment by 30.8%.

The government received particularly negative assessments on several of these issues. According to the survey, 89.4% rated its handling of electricity negatively, while 79.6% gave a negative assessment of fuel and gas. Another 69.1% were dissatisfied with the government’s handling of essential commodity prices. Education was the only one of seven tested areas to receive a favourable assessment, at 70.6%.

Household finances remain under pressure

The survey found that 46.5% of respondents considered their families worse off than a year earlier, while 17.5% said their families were better off.

Expectations for the next 12 months were more positive. Some 38.1% expected their families to be better off, compared with 24.3% who expected their situation to worsen. At the national level, 48.4% said they were more hopeful about the country than a year earlier, while 39% said they were less hopeful.

Doppler cautioned that expectations about future conditions should not be interpreted as evidence that household economic conditions have already improved.

The survey also recorded strong support for several government initiatives. The Family Card received support from 78.6% of respondents, while 70.7% backed the government’s tax policy.

Survey methodology

A total of 10,413 people were contacted for the survey, with 3,443 completing Computer Assisted Telephone Interviews, producing a 33.1% completion rate.

The respondents represented 489 sampling units across all 64 districts. Doppler said the national figures have a margin of approximately ±2.6 percentage points at a 95% confidence level. The survey was self-funded and conducted independently of political parties, ministries and campaigns.

The findings provide a snapshot of public sentiment in August 2026 rather than a trend over time. Doppler specifically noted that each question was asked once and that the survey should not be interpreted as showing changes in public opinion over a longer period.