Demographics of Bhutan


This article is about the demographic features of the population of Bhutan, including population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population.

Bhutan's bimodal population estimates

The Royal Government of Bhutan listed the country's population as 752,700 in 2003.
One explanation for this discrepancy is that the higher CIA numbers ultimately trace back to an inflated population number the Bhutanese government supplied to the United Nations in the early 1970s in order to gain entry into that body. According to this theory the CIA population experts have retained this original inflated number year after year while adjusting it each year for normal population growth.
An alternative theory is that the western and central districts of the country wish to underestimate the populations of the southern and eastern districts in order to maintain their historical dominance over those districts. This is the claim made by some Bhutanese refugee groups. Certainly the government numbers do not include people, that were living in the refugee camps in Nepal and other persons forced out of Bhutan, which total approximately 125,000, majority of whom have now resettled in the USA.
The Bhutanese numbers can be reconstructed from their 9th Five Year Plan documents, which lists the exact number of households in each gewog. If the Bhutanese refugee advocate groups are correct, a spot check of a southern gewog should show a massive under-reporting of population.
The CIA World Fact book number has since been adjusted with a note of former inconstencies, and attributes the difference to the government not including the "first modern census of Bhutan, conducted in 2005". In the 1970s Bhutan was one of the most isolated countries in the world and nobody knew how many people lived there since no census had ever been taken.

Demographic statistics

The following demographic statistics are from the CIA World Factbook, unless otherwise indicated.

Ethnic groups

Religions

Languages

Literacy

Population

Age structure
Median age
Population growth rate
Birth rate
Death rate
Net migration rate
Total fertility rate
Urbanization
Sex ratio

Life expectancy at birth

Life expectancy at birth is 70.2 years, which is an increase from 66.3 years in 2005. Women with 71.7 years lived longer than men.
Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay said that the good news is life expectancy has crossed 70 years.

Vital statistics

Below is a table of Bhutan vital statistics since 1950 published by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs.

Births and deaths

YearPopulationLive birthsDeathsNatural increaseCrude birth rateCrude death rateRate of natural increaseTFR
2005635,00012,5384,4988,04019.77.112.62.50
2017736,00011,2394,8946,34515.56.78.81.70

Structure of the population

Structure of the population :
Age GroupMaleFemaleTotal%
Total381 582351 421733 004100
0-442 72541 99984 72411,56
5-938 39637 72576 12110,38
10-1432 16931 59363 7628,70
15-1935 43234 40369 8359,53
20-2436 52634 74571 2719,72
25-2935 43332 06567 4989,21
30-3433 27928 49161 7708,43
35-3928 76624 06052 8277,21
40-4423 77419 54543 3195,91
45-4919 39116 21335 6044,86
50-5415 24513 20928 4553,88
55-5912 25710 80623 0633,15
60-649 6028 64518 2472,49
65-697 2686 74114 0091,91
70-745 1694 95610 1241,38
75-793 3383 3136 6510,91
80+2 8122 9125 7240,78

HIV/AIDS

In 2011, there were 246 reported cases of HIV in Bhutan, representing just over 0.03% of the population. In July 2010, there were a total of 217 cases detected, however Health Ministry sources indicated actual numbers were estimated at more than 500 by UNAIDS.
Through July 2010, there had been a total of 40 deaths due to HIV/AIDS-related causes, and one suicide.

Education

As of 2017, Bhutan has a literacy rate of 71.4 percent. The highest literacy rate is observed in Thimpu at 83.9 percent, followed by Trongsa and Chukha, while Gasa has the lowest rate with 59.8 percent of its population being literate.