Despite being a country smaller than the U.S. state of Iowa, Bangladesh is home to a staggering population of nearly 170 million people, making it one of the most densely populated nations on Earth.
Key Takeaways
- The total population of Bangladesh as of July 1, 2023, was estimated at 169,828,911 people
- Bangladesh's population density in 2023 stood at 1,350 people per square kilometer, making it one of the most densely populated countries globally
- From 2022 to 2023, Bangladesh's population grew by 1,265,491 people, representing a 0.75% annual growth rate
- 0-4 years age group: 9.2% of population (15.6 million) in 2022
- 5-9 years: 9.8% (16.6 million) in 2022 UN estimates
- 10-14 years: 9.5% (16.1 million) population share in 2022
- Sex ratio at birth: 105 males per 100 females in 2023
- Overall sex ratio: 97.3 males per 100 females in 2023 population
- Male population: 84.9 million (49.8%), female: 85.6 million (50.2%) in 2023
- Urban population percentage: 39.37% (67.2 million) in 2023
- Rural population: 102.8 million (60.63%) in 2023 estimates
- Urban growth rate: 3.28% annually vs rural 0.45% in 2020-2025
- Crude birth rate: 17.05 births per 1,000 population in 2023
- Total fertility rate: 1.95 children per woman (2023)
- Crude death rate: 5.42 deaths per 1,000 in 2023
Bangladesh is an extremely densely populated country with over 169 million people.
Age Structure
- 0-4 years age group: 9.2% of population (15.6 million) in 2022
- 5-9 years: 9.8% (16.6 million) in 2022 UN estimates
- 10-14 years: 9.5% (16.1 million) population share in 2022
- 15-19 years age cohort: 9.1% (15.4 million) in 2022
- 20-24 years: 8.7% (14.7 million)
- 25-29 years: 8.2% (13.9 million) in 2022 data
- 30-34 years: 7.5% (12.7 million)
- 35-39 years: 6.8% (11.5 million) population in 2022
- 40-44 years: 6.2% (10.5 million)
- 45-49 years: 5.6% (9.5 million) in 2022 estimates
- 50-54 years: 5.0% (8.5 million)
- 55-59 years: 4.3% (7.3 million) share
- 60-64 years: 3.7% (6.3 million) in 2022
- 65-69 years: 2.5% (4.2 million)
- 70-74 years: 1.8% (3.0 million)
- 75-79 years: 1.2% (2.0 million)
- 80+ years: 1.0% (1.7 million) in 2022 UN data
- Median age in Bangladesh rose from 23.3 in 2000 to 27.9 in 2023
- Dependency ratio total: 47.6% (youth 41.2%, old 6.4%) in 2023
- Youth population (0-24) is 46.5% of total in 2023
- Population aged 15-24: 18.5% (31.4 million) in 2022
- Age structure shows broad base narrowing, indicating demographic transition
- 2023 age pyramid: 27.15% under 15, 5.12% over 64
- Mean age of childbearing women: 28.5 years in latest DHS survey
- Proportion 65+ projected to reach 12% by 2050
- Child population (0-14) declined from 34% in 2011 to 27% in 2023
- Working age bulge peaks at 68% around 2030-2040
- Population under 18: 45 million (26.5%) in 2022
- Adolescent population (10-19): 28 million (16.5%)
- Elderly dependency ratio: 7.5% in 2023, rising to 20% by 2050
Age Structure Interpretation
Bangladesh is balancing a colossal youth dividend with a ticking demographic clock, as nearly half its population is under 25 yet the median age steadily climbs toward 30.
Gender Distribution
- Sex ratio at birth: 105 males per 100 females in 2023
- Overall sex ratio: 97.3 males per 100 females in 2023 population
- Male population: 84.9 million (49.8%), female: 85.6 million (50.2%) in 2023
- Sex ratio 0-14 years: 103.5 males/100 females
- Sex ratio 15-64 years: 96.2 males/100 females in 2023
- Sex ratio 65+ years: 72.1 males/100 females due to higher female longevity
- Female-headed households: 13.7% in 2019 census data
- Gender ratio in urban areas: 92 males/100 females, rural: 99/100
- Male life expectancy: 71.6 years, female: 74.7 years in 2023
- Women of reproductive age (15-49): 38.5 million (2022)
- Male literacy rate: 76.6%, female: 72.8% in 2022
- Gender parity index in primary education: 1.01 (near equal)
- Female labor force participation: 42.5% vs male 81.2% in 2022
- Sex ratio at birth improved from 106.6 in 1990s to 105 in 2020s
- Female population growth rate slightly higher at 0.8% vs male 0.7% annually
- In Dhaka Division, sex ratio 95 males/100 females due to migration
- Chittagong Division sex ratio: 98/100
- Maternal mortality reflects gender health disparities at 173/100,000 births
- Female median age: 28.5 years vs male 27.2 in 2023
- Gender imbalance in elderly: 68 males/100 females over 65
- Boys under 5: 51.2%, girls 48.8% stunting prevalence higher in girls
- Female voters: 51% of electorate in recent elections
- Male unemployment: 3.6%, female: 6.7% in 2022 labor survey
- Sex-selective practices minimal with sex ratio stabilizing
Gender Distribution Interpretation
Bangladesh’s population tells a tale of two sexes: boys start with a slight numerical head start at birth, but women steadily outpace them in longevity, education, and urban migration, ultimately becoming the resilient majority who live longer, vote more, and increasingly head their own households.
Population Size and Growth
- The total population of Bangladesh as of July 1, 2023, was estimated at 169,828,911 people
- Bangladesh's population density in 2023 stood at 1,350 people per square kilometer, making it one of the most densely populated countries globally
- From 2022 to 2023, Bangladesh's population grew by 1,265,491 people, representing a 0.75% annual growth rate
- The population of Bangladesh reached 150 million in 2013 and has since increased by over 19 million
- In 2021, Bangladesh's mid-year population was 164,689,383 according to the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics
- Bangladesh's population growth rate declined from 1.37% in 2010 to 0.92% in 2022
- The projected population of Bangladesh for 2025 is 174,701,211
- Bangladesh overtook Indonesia as the 8th most populous country in 2023 with 171 million inhabitants
- Dhaka Division holds 20.1% of Bangladesh's total population with 34,402,000 people in 2022
- Chittagong Division's population was 30,478,000 in 2022, accounting for 17.8% of national total
- Bangladesh's population in 1951 census was 44,224,643, growing to 169 million by 2023
- Annual population increase in Bangladesh averaged 1.5 million per year between 2000-2020
- By 2030, Bangladesh's population is forecasted to reach 186 million according to UN medium variant
- Sylhet Division population: 10,612,000 (6.2%) in 2022
- Rangpur Division: 17,135,000 people (10%) in 2022 census projection
- Mymensingh Division newly formed with 11,804,000 (6.9%) population in 2022
- Barisal Division population: 9,735,000 (5.7%) as per 2022 estimates
- Khulna Division: 17,126,000 (10%) in 2022
- Rajshahi Division: 19,375,000 (11.3%) population in 2022
- Dhaka city's population exceeds 21 million in metro area as of 2023
- Population growth rate in Bangladesh was 0.95% in 2021 per World Bank data
- Bangladesh population doubled from 71.38 million in 1975 to 142.76 million in 2000
- 2024 projection: Bangladesh population at 173,562,563
- Net migration rate: -4.9 migrants per 1,000 population annually
- Infant population (0-14 years) constitutes 27.2% of total in 2023
- Working-age population (15-64) is 67.8% in 2023 estimates
- Elderly (65+) make up 5% of population in 2023
- Bangladesh's land area is 130,170 sq km supporting 1,300+ people/km²
- Population at 2011 census: 149,772,364
- 1974 census population: 76,381,000
- Projected peak population around 2050 at 200 million+
Population Size and Growth Interpretation
Bangladesh has transformed its land into a meticulously efficient human mosaic, where 169.8 million people, growing at a more thoughtful pace of under 1%, are packed with a density that would make even Manhattan blush, all while its capital Dhaka swells to a staggering 21-million-person symphony of controlled chaos.
Urban and Rural Population
- Urban population percentage: 39.37% (67.2 million) in 2023
- Rural population: 102.8 million (60.63%) in 2023 estimates
- Urban growth rate: 3.28% annually vs rural 0.45% in 2020-2025
- Dhaka metro urban agglomeration: 23.9 million (2023)
- Chittagong city population: 5.6 million in metro area 2023
- Khulna urban population: 1.0 million
- Rajshahi city: 760,000 urban dwellers in 2022
- Sylhet urban: 700,000 in 2022 estimates
- Barisal urban population: 450,000 (2022)
- Urbanization rate projected to reach 50% by 2040
- Slum population in urban Bangladesh: 22% of city dwellers (15 million)
- Rural density: 1,100/km² vs urban 12,000/km² in 2023
- Dhaka Division urban share: 45%, highest in country
- Chittagong Division urban: 35% of divisional population
- Rural-to-urban migration: 400,000 net migrants annually
- Urban literacy: 84% vs rural 73% in 2022
- Rural households: 70% use improved sanitation vs 90% urban
- Urban poor: 30% live below poverty line vs rural 25%
- Projected urban population 2030: 85 million (45%)
- Rangpur Division urban share lowest at 18%
- Mymensingh urban: 20% of 11.8 million divisional pop
- Urban fertility rate: 1.8 vs rural 2.1 children per woman
- Rural electricity access: 90% vs near 100% urban in 2022
- Urban density in major cities exceeds 20,000/km²
- Rural landlessness affects 15% of households
- Urban migration driven by 60% employment opportunities
Urban and Rural Population Interpretation
Bangladesh’s countryside is gently emptying while its cities swell fiercely, creating a lopsided future where opportunity and congestion race each other and no one's quite sure who's winning.
Vital Rates and Health
- Crude birth rate: 17.05 births per 1,000 population in 2023
- Total fertility rate: 1.95 children per woman (2023)
- Crude death rate: 5.42 deaths per 1,000 in 2023
- Life expectancy at birth: 73.9 years total (male 71.6, female 76.4) 2023
- Infant mortality rate: 25.8 deaths per 1,000 live births (2023)
- Under-5 mortality: 32.5 per 1,000 in 2022 UNICEF data
- Maternal mortality ratio: 113 deaths per 100,000 live births (2020)
- Net reproduction rate: 0.91 (below replacement)
- Contraceptive prevalence: 64.5% among married women 15-49
- Annual births: 2.9 million estimated in 2023
- Annual deaths: 920,000 in 2023 projection
- Natural increase: 1.06% per year (2023)
- Healthy life expectancy: 64.1 years (2021 WHO)
- Neonatal mortality: 18 per 1,000 live births (2022)
- Post-neonatal mortality: 7.8 per 1,000
- Stillbirth rate: 21.2 per 1,000 births
- Adolescent birth rate: 71 per 1,000 women 15-19 (2021)
- HIV prevalence: 0.01% adult population (2022)
- Tuberculosis death rate: 37 per 100,000 (2021)
- Suicide rate: 6.8 per 100,000 (female higher)
- Immunization coverage DTP3: 97.5% children under 1 (2022)
- Stunting prevalence under 5: 28.1% (2022)
Vital Rates and Health Interpretation
Bangladesh is a nation in the midst of a profound transition, where the triumphant decline in fertility to below replacement level and the impressive extension of life expectancy are starkly contrasted by the stubborn, sobering shadows of maternal, infant, and neonatal mortality that still demand urgent attention.
Sources & References
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