Demographics of Bangladesh
is the eighth-most populated country in the world with almost 2.2% of the world's population. According to, the population stood at in 2016.
Bangladesh is largely ethnically homogeneous, and its name derives from the Bengali ethno-linguistic group which comprises 98% of the population. The Chittagong Hill Tracts, Sylhet, Mymensingh and North Bengal regions are home to diverse indigenous peoples. There are many dialects of Bengali spoken throughout the region. The dialect spoken by those in Chittagong and Sylhet are particularly distinctive. The population is estimated at million. About 89% of Bangladeshis are Muslims, followed by Hindus, Buddhists and Christians and others.
Bangladesh has one of the highest population densities in the world. The total fertility rate has been reduced by more than two thirds since Independence. Current TFR in Bangladesh is 2.1 which means that women have 2.1 children on average in their lifetime. At this TFR and without migration, country's population will eventually be neither growing nor shrinking, once the top of its age pyramid fills in.
Population
The 2020 total population was 168,827,626 which makes Bangladesh the eighth-most populous country in the world.Census
| Census date | census population | adjusted population |
| 1901 | 28 928 | |
| 1911 | 31 555 | |
| 1921 | 33 255 | |
| 1931 | 35 602 | |
| 1941 | 41 997 | |
| 1951 | 41 932 | |
| 1961 | 50 840 | |
| 1974 | 71 479 | 76 398 |
| 1981 | 87 120 | 89 912 |
| 1991 | 106 313 | 111 455 |
| 2001 | 124 355 | 130 523 |
| 15 Mar 2011 | 142 319 | 152 518 |
p=provisional figure
UN estimates
| Total population | Population aged 0–14 | Population aged 15–64 | Population aged 65+ | |
| 1950 | 37 895 | 41.2 | 54.8 | 3.9 |
| 1955 | 43 444 | 42.4 | 54.1 | 3.5 |
| 1960 | 50 102 | 43.6 | 53.1 | 3.3 |
| 1965 | 57 792 | 44.7 | 52.0 | 3.3 |
| 1970 | 66 881 | 44.7 | 51.8 | 3.4 |
| 1975 | 70 582 | 45.8 | 50.7 | 3.5 |
| 1980 | 80 624 | 45.0 | 51.4 | 3.6 |
| 1985 | 92 284 | 43.9 | 52.5 | 3.6 |
| 1990 | 105 256 | 42.5 | 53.8 | 3.7 |
| 1995 | 117 487 | 40.3 | 55.9 | 3.8 |
| 2000 | 127 658 | 37.0 | 59.2 | 3.9 |
| 2005 | 139 036 | 34.4 | 61.3 | 4.3 |
| 2010 | 147 575 | 32.0 | 63.2 | 4.8 |
| 2015 | 156 256 | 29.3 | 65.6 | 5.1 |
| 2020 | 164 689 | 26.8 | 68.0 | 5.2 |
Structure of the population
Structure of the population :| Age Group | Male | Female | Total | % |
| Total | 72 109 796 | 71 933 901 | 144 043 697 | 100 |
| 0-4 | 7 638 523 | 7 423 447 | 15 061 970 | 10.46 |
| 5-9 | 9 322 514 | 8 850 715 | 18 173 229 | 12.62 |
| 10-14 | 8 614 889 | 8 031 726 | 16 646 615 | 11.56 |
| 15-19 | 6 509 492 | 6 352 398 | 12 861 890 | 8.93 |
| 20-24 | 5 777 370 | 7 522 419 | 13 299 789 | 9.23 |
| 25-29 | 6 225 252 | 7 254 256 | 13 479 508 | 9.36 |
| 30-34 | 5 079 106 | 5 420 659 | 10 499 765 | 7.29 |
| 35-39 | 4 697 349 | 4 859 079 | 9 556 428 | 6.63 |
| 40-44 | 4 280 923 | 3 980 739 | 8 261 662 | 5.74 |
| 45-49 | 3 363 273 | 3 016 800 | 6 380 073 | 4.43 |
| 50-54 | 2 952 596 | 2 599 675 | 5 552 271 | 3.85 |
| 55-59 | 1 923 534 | 1 577 463 | 3 500 997 | 2.43 |
| 60-64 | 2 081 306 | 1 852 708 | 3 934 014 | 2.73 |
| 65-69 | 1 149 569 | 963 921 | 2 113 490 | 1.47 |
| 70-74 | 1 206 398 | 1 025 314 | 2 231 712 | 1.55 |
| 75-79 | 488 338 | 386 389 | 874 727 | 0.61 |
| 80-84 | 443 239 | 436 840 | 880 079 | 0.61 |
| 85-89 | 138 268 | 124 343 | 262 611 | 0.18 |
| 90-94 | 116 916 | 133 273 | 250 189 | 0.17 |
| 95+ | 100 941 | 121 737 | 222 678 | 0.15 |
Structure of the population Male: 37 672, Female: 39 641, Total: 77 313 :
| Age Group | Male | Female | Total |
| 0-4 | 11.0 | 9.6 | 10.3 |
| 5-9 | 11.8 | 10.7 | 11.2 |
| 10-14 | 12.3 | 11.5 | 11.9 |
| 15-19 | 9.4 | 11.5 | 10.5 |
| 20-24 | 6.7 | 9.8 | 8.3 |
| 25-29 | 7.6 | 9.1 | 8.3 |
| 30-34 | 6.7 | 7.9 | 7.3 |
| 35-39 | 6.3 | 6.0 | 6.2 |
| 40-44 | 5.7 | 5.4 | 5.6 |
| 45-49 | 4.6 | 4.6 | 4.6 |
| 50-54 | 4.5 | 3.1 | 3.8 |
| 55-59 | 3.4 | 3.6 | 3.5 |
| 60-64 | 3.4 | 2.6 | 3.0 |
| 65-69 | 2.4 | 1.6 | 2.0 |
| 70-74 | 1.9 | 1.2 | 1.5 |
| 75-79 | 1.0 | 0.5 | 0.8 |
| 80+ | 1.3 | 1.2 | 1.3 |
Population growth rate
Bangladesh had high rates of population growth in the 1960s and 1970s. Since then however it has seen significant reduction in its total fertility rate. Over a period of three decades it dropped from almost 7 to 2.4 in 2005-2010.Gender ratio
Urban and rural
The sprawling mega-city of Dhaka has a huge population, but the majority of the people nonetheless still live in villages in rural areas.Population Density
Based on the CIA World Fact Book 2012 figures for population and land area, Bangladesh has the highest population density among large countries, 1,237.51 persons per square kilometre, and 12th overall, when small countries and city-states are included.Vital statistics
Births and deaths
Sample Vital Registration System
| Year | Population | Live births | Deaths | Natural change | Crude birth rate : National | Crude death rate : National | Natural change : National | Fertility rates: National |
| 2005 | 138,600,000 | 2,879,000 | 20.7 | 5.8 | 14.9 | 2.46 | ||
| 2006 | 140,600,000 | 2,901,000 | 20.6 | 5.6 | 15.0 | 2.41 | ||
| 2007 | 142,600,000 | 2,986,000 | 20.9 | 6.2 | 14.7 | 2.39 | ||
| 2008 | 144,700,000 | 3,022,000 | 20.5 | 6.0 | 14.5 | 2.30 | ||
| 2009 | 146,700,000 | 2,832,000 | 19.4 | 5.8 | 13.6 | 2.15 | ||
| 2010 | 148,600,000 | 2,868,494 | 842,095 | 2,026,399 | 19.2 | 5.6 | 13.6 | 2.12 |
| 2011 | 150,600,000 | 2,891,000 | 828,000 | 2,063,000 | 19.2 | 5.5 | 13.7 | 2.11 |
| 2012 | 152,700,000 | 2,933,000 | 826,000 | 2,107,000 | 18.9 | 5.3 | 13.6 | 2.12 |
| 2013 | 154,700,000 | 19.0 | 5.3 | 13.7 | 2.11 | |||
| 2014 | 156,800,000 | 18.9 | 5.2 | 13.7 | 2.11 | |||
| 2017 | 3,009,950 | 829,770 | 2,180,180 |
Fertility
Total Fertility Rate :| Year | TFR | TFR | TFR |
| 2018 | 2.05 | 2.38 | 1.68 |
Total fertility rate by divisions
Fertility Rate (The Demographic Health Survey)
Fertility Rate and CBR :| Year | CBR | TFR | CBR | TFR | CBR | TFR |
| 1993-1994 | 29.1 | 3.44 | 25.3 | 2.69 | 29.5 | 3.54 |
| 1996-1997 | 29.4 | 3.27 | 22.6 | 2.10 | 30.2 | 3.43 |
| 1999-2000 | 30.2 | 3.31 | 25.3 | 2.45 | 31.3 | 3.54 |
| 2001 | 28.4 | 3.22 | 26.0 | 2.69 | 28.9 | 3.36 |
| 2004 | 28.7 | 3.0 | 25.8 | 2.5 | 29.5 | 3.2 |
| 2007 | 26.1 | 2.7 | 24.7 | 2.4 | 26.5 | 2.8 |
| 2011 | 22.6 | 2.3 | 20.6 | 2.0 | 23.3 | 2.5 |
| 2014 | 22.2 | 2.3 | 20.8 | 2.0 | 22.8 | 2.4 |
| 2017-18 | 21.9 | 2.3 | 21.1 | 2.0 | 22.3 | 2.3 |
Health
Life expectancy at birth
| Period | Life expectancy in Years | Period | Life expectancy in Years |
| 1950–1955 | 40.7 | 1985–1990 | 57.0 |
| 1955–1960 | 44.2 | 1990–1995 | 60.0 |
| 1960–1965 | 47.2 | 1995–2000 | 63.7 |
| 1965–1970 | 49.3 | 2000–2005 | 66.7 |
| 1970–1975 | 46.3 | 2005–2010 | 69.1 |
| 1975–1980 | 52.2 | 2010–2015 | 71.2 |
| 1980–1985 | 54.3 |
Source: UN World Population Prospects
HIV/AIDS
Major infectious diseases
Ethnic groups
The vast majority of Bangladeshis are of the Bengali ethno-linguistic group. This group also spans the neighboring Indian province of West Bengal. Minority ethnic groups include Meitei, Tripura, Marma, Tanchangya, Barua, Khasi, Santhals, Chakma, Rakhin people, Garo, Biharis, Oraons, Mundas and Rohingyas.Communities of Persian and Iranic peoples mainly reside in the city of Chittagong and are the descendants of migrants that immigrated during the Pakistani dominion over Bangladesh, and also from the British Partition of 1947. Some are descendants of the Persian settlers during the medieval era of the Bengal Sultanate, most Iranic peoples living in Chittagong are either mainly or fully integrated into Bengali society, and have even influenced the Chittagonian language as a whole.
Biharis are Urdu-speaking, non-Bengalis who emigrated from the state of Bihar and other parts of northern India during the 1947 partition. They are concentrated in the Dhaka and Rangpur areas and number some 300,000. In the 1971 independence war many of them sided with Pakistan, as they stood to lose their positions in the upper levels of society. Hundreds of thousands went to Pakistan and those that remained were interned in refugee camps. Their population declined from about 1 million in 1971 to 600,000 in the late 1980s. Refugees International has called them a "neglected and stateless" people as they are denied citizenship by the governments of Bangladesh and Pakistan. As nearly 40 years has passed, two generations of Biharis have been born in these camps. Biharis were granted Bangladeshi citizenship and voting rights in 2008.
Bangladesh's tribal population was enumerated at 897,828 in the 1981 census. These tribes are concentrated in the Chittagong Hill Tracts and around Mymensingh, Sylhet, and Rajshahi. They are of Sino-Tibetan descent and differ markedly in their social customs, religion, language and level of development. They speak Tibeto-Burman languages and most are Buddhist or Hindu. The four largest tribes are Chakmas, Marmas, Tipperas, Tanchangya, and Mros. Smaller groups include the Santals in Rajshahi and Dinajpur, and Khasis, Garos, and Khajons in Mymensingh and Sylhet regions.
There are small communities of Meitei people in the Sylhet district, which is close to the Meitei homeland across the border in Manipur, India.
There is a small population of Rohingya refugees from Myanmar near the border in the southeast. There are 28,000 living in two UN refugee camps in Cox's Bazar as well as some 200,000 "unregistered people of concern" living outside of the camps.
The refugee crisis originated in the early 1990s when the first wave numbering some 250,000 of the predominantly Muslim ethnic group fled persecution from their home in Rakhaine—Myanmar's western-most state. Bangladesh seeks to repatriate the refugees back to Myanmar.
Language
- Official language: Bengali
- Other languages often considered dialects of Bengali: Chittagonian, Sylheti, Rohingya, Tangchangya, Chakma, and Rangpuri.
- Other Indic languages: Bishnupriya Manipuri, Assamese, various Bihari languages
- Tibeto-Burman languages: A'Tong, Chak, Koch, Garo, Megam, Meitei Manipuri, Mizo, Mru, Pangkhua, Rakhine/Marma,, Riang, Tippera, Usoi/Uchoi, various Chin languages
- Austroasiatic languages: Khasi, Koda, Mundari, Pnar, Santali, War
- Dravidian languages: Kurukh
- Other languages: English ', Arabic ', Hindi/Urdu
Religion
| Religious group | Population % 1951. | Population % 1961 | Population % 1974 | Population % 1981 | Population % 1991 | Population % 2001 | Population % 2011 |
| Islam | 78.9 % | 80.4 % | 85.4 % | 86.6 % | 88.3 % | 89.7% | 90.39 |
| Hinduism | 22 % | 18.5% | 13.5% | 12.1 % | 10.5 % | 9.2% | 8.3% |
| Buddhism | 0.7 % | 0.7 % | 0.6 % | 0.6 % | 0.6 % | 0.7 % | 0.6% |
| Christianity | 0.3 % | 0.3 % | 0.2 % | 0.3 % | 0.3 % | 0.3% | 0.4% |
| Other religions/No religion | 0.1 % | 0.1 % | 0.2 % | 0.3 % | 0.3 % | 0.1% | 0.1% |
Genetics
Bangladesh has the world's highest frequency of the M form of mitochondrial DNA. This genetic variant spans many continents, and is the single most common mtDNA haplogroup in Asia. In Bangladesh it represents about 83% of maternal lineages.Education
Bangladesh has a literacy rate of 72.9 percent as of 2018. 75.7 percent for males and 70.09 percent for females.Migrants
According to the United Nations, there were 1,500,921 international migrants in Bangladesh in 2017.Their most common countries of origin were as follows:
At the same time, the United Nations also enumerated the Bangladesh diaspora as 4,499,919 persons.
The most common countries where Bangladeshi migrants are located were as follows: