Demographic Profile of Bangladesh

1. Introduction
Population is important to know because it gives us estimates on how many and how much of things we need. It is also important because we need to know how fast the world is growing. Studying population helps officials to be sure that there is enough space for humans in the future. The number of people on the planet has doubled from 3.5 billion to seven billion in just a half century. While we’ve made great strides in educating people around the world about family planning and birth control, the global fertility rate still hovers around 2.5 children per woman. At that rate, population will grow to 11 billion by 2050 and nearly 27 billion by 2100.
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2. Population
A population is a summation of all the organisms of the same group or species, who live in the same geographical area, and have the capability of interbreeding simply a particular section, group, or type of people or animals living in an area or country.
The human population is the total number of human beings on Earth. United States Census Bureau (USCB) estimates that the world population exceeded 7 billion on March 12, 2012. According to a separate estimate by the United Nations Population Fund, it reached this milestone on October 31, 2011.

3. Population of Bangladesh
The population of Bangladesh is close to 150 million, making it the most densely populated country in the world, with the exception of several city-states. On a per sq km basis, it is three times more populated than Indian and seven times more populated than China. Nevertheless, what is not well known is that there are several other sizable areas in the world which are just crowded- Java (Indonesia’s principal island), for example, has a population density equal to Bangladesh’s. Table 1: Population of Bangladesh with census year from 1901 to 2011 Population of Bangladesh | Census Year | Census population(thousand) | Adjusted population(thousand) | 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 | | 2011 | | 142 319 | | | |
Source: BBS, 2011
From the table above and figure below it is observed that the total population in Bangladesh was last recorded at 142 million people in 2011 from 50.8 million in 1960, changing 200 percent during the last 50 years. Population in Bangladesh is reported by the World Bank. Historically, from 1960 until 2011, Bangladesh Population averaged 97.2 Million reaching an all time high of 142 Million in December of 2011 and a record low of 50.8 Million in December of 1960. The population of Bangladesh represents 2.18 percent of the world´s total population which arguably means that one person in every 46 people on the planet is a resident of Bangladesh.
Figure 1: Population figure of Bangladesh since 1901

4. Population Growth rate of Bangladesh
The average annual percent change in the population, resulting from a surplus (or deficit) of births over deaths and the balance of migrants entering and leaving a country. The rate may be positive or negative. Population growth rate of Bangladesh is 1.37 % (Source: BBS, population census, 2011). In comparison with other countries around the region, this growth rate level places Bangladesh at an intermediate position between the group of low rate countries (Thailand, SriLanka, Myanmar) and the group of medium rate countries (India, Malaysia) Figure 2 : Population Growth Rate of Bangladesh since 1960

Data Source: World Bank
Bangladesh had high rates of population growth in the 1960s and 1970s. Since then however it has seen a marked reduction in its total fertility rate. Over a period of three decades it dropped from almost 7 to 1.34 in 2011 Table 2: Population Trend of Bangladesh

From the above table it is observed that the trend of average annual growth rate is decreasing.
Map 1: Average Annual Growth rate of population in Bangladesh (Division-wise)

5. Population distribution in Bangladesh
Population distribution means the pattern of where people live. Population distribution is uneven. Places which are sparsely populated contain few people. Places which are densely populated contain many people.
Population of Bangladesh is almost evenly distributed throughout its 64 districts except for the three Hill Tracts districts which are rather sparsely inhabited. Regionally, the eastern districts have a slightly higher density than the western ones. On average, a district has a population of about 1.8 million, a Thana 230,000, a union 25,000 and a village 2,000.
Map 2: Population Distribution in Bangladesh (District-wise)

6. Population density of Bangladesh
Population density is a measurement of the number of people in an area. It is an average number. Population density is calculated by dividing the number of people by area. Population density is usually shown as the number of people per square kilometer.
Bangladesh has the highest population density among large countries, 1,237.51 persons per square kilometer, and 12th overall, when small countries and city-states are included (Source: CIA world Fact Book: 2012)
Sustained population growth has pushed the population density from 290 to 1237 people per square kilometer between 1950 and 2012. Population tripled during this period from 42 million to 149 million. Bangladesh 's high population density is prevalent across the nation except in the mountainous Hill Tracts in the Southeast, the Sundarbans mangrove forests in the Southwest, and to a lesser degree the Sylhet area in the Northeast corner.
Table 3: Population Density of Bangladesh (District-wise) Division | population (2011) | Area (km2) | Population density | Barisal | 8,325,666 | 13,297 | 626 | Chittagong | 28,423,019 | 33,771 | 841 | Dhaka | 47,424,418 | 31,120 | 1,523 | Khulna | 15,687,759 | 22,272 | 704 | Rajshahi | 18,484,858 | 18,197 | 1,015 | Rangpur | 15,787,758 | 16,317 | 960 | Sylhet | 9,910,219 | 12,596 | 780 |

Source: BBS, 2011
Due to huge population size, the density of population is already five times that of any other ‘mega’ country (>100 million), a very challenging situation for an agricultural society. Most of the future growth will be urban, increasingly in slums. Numbers of young people will not increase, but numbers of older people will increase 10-fold this century, creating a large burden on the health system, especially for chronic illnesses. High density of population means that agricultural land is virtually saturated, with very limited capacity to expand food production.

The map below is a choropleth (shading) map and illustrates population density of Bangladesh as District wise. The darker the color, the greater the population density.
Map 3: Population Density of Bangladesh (District-Wise)

7. Age- Sex Structure of Bangladesh
Age-sex structure displays the percentage or actual amount of a population broken down by gender and age. The population is distributed along the horizontal axis, with males shown on the left and females on the right. The male and female populations are broken down into 5-year age groups represented as horizontal bars along the vertical axis, with the youngest age groups at the bottom and the oldest at the top. The Age-sex structure for Bangladesh is given below Figure 3: Age-Sex Structure of Bangladesh

Source: CIA world Factbook, 2012
This pyramid of Bangladesh shows a broad-based, triangle-shaped pyramid. Countries with this type of pyramid have high population growth rates (about 1.37 percent annually at present).Bangladesh have a high proportion of children and a low proportion of older people. The youthful population or rapid growth shape is due to high birth rates, high death rates and low life expectancy.
An encouraging feature of the change to, or ‘ageing’ of the age structure, is the fact that the number of children and young people aged less then 15 years—now at 54 million (Table 2)—will never increase. Throughout this century, that number will remain stable, which should assist planners in building an education system.
Table 4: Age-sex composition of Bangladesh Age Group | Percentage of total population | Male | Female | Total | 0-14 | 33.60% | 27,489,425 | 26,705,051 | 54,194,476 | 15-24 | 18.80% | 14,079,450 | 16,124,609 | 30,204,059 | 25-54 | 37.20% | 28,328,628 | 31,625,777 | 59,954,405 | 55-64 | 5.60% | 4,627,372 | 4,413,711 | 9,041,083 | 65 and over | 4.80% | 3,763,528 | 3,926,253 | 7,689,781 | Source: CIA world Factbook, 2012

8. Dependency Ratio
The dependency ratio is the proportion of the economically dependent part of the population to the productive part. The dependency ratio tells us how many young people (under 16) and older people (over 64) depend on people of working age (16 to 64). The dependency ratio is worked out with this formula

Bangladesh has 33.60% of its population less than 15, and 4.80% over 65. This makes 61.6% (100 - (33.60+4.80)) between the ages of 15 and 64.

It is really alarming and unfortunate that more than half of the people of Bangladesh are dependent to the economically active people. There is a hope and hope is that the large numbers who were born in the 1960s to the 1980s are now becoming economically active and as a result, the dependency ratio is falling.
9. Birth Rate of Bangladesh
The birth rate is the average number of births during a year per 1000 people in the population estimated at mid-year. It is commonly identified as the crude birth rate. It is the dominant factor in establishing the rate of population growth in a country and is determined by the level of fertility as well as the age structure of the population.
In Bangladesh, the birth rate was 31.4 per thousand in 1992; it fell to around 25.2 per thousand in 2002, at present it is 22.53 per thousand and is expected to fall to around 18 per thousand in 2020.
Figure 4: Crude Birth Rate (CBR) trends of Bangladesh

Source: Department of Economic and social welfare, United Nations

10. Death Rate of Bangladesh
The death rate is the average number of deaths per 1000 people in the population estimated at mid-year. It is an approximate reflection of the mortality situation and is referred to as the crude death rate. It indicates the impact of the existing death rate on population growth given the age distribution of the population.
In Bangladesh, the death rate was 11.2 per thousand in 1992; it fell to 5.71 per thousand in 2012
Figure 5: Crude Death Rate (CDR) trends of Bangladesh

Source: Department of Economic and social welfare, United Nations

11. Migration Status of the people of Bangladesh
Migration of Bangladesh is basically dominated by international out-migration. Since 1976 to June 2010, about 72 million Bangladeshis migrated overseas for employment (Bangladesh Bank, 2010).
11.1 The net number of migrants
The number of immigrants minus the number of emigrants. It is expressed as thousands.
Figure 6: Net number of migrates, both sexes combined (in thousand)

Source: Department of Economic and social welfare, United Nations

11.2 Net number of migrants
The number of immigrants minus the number of emigrants over a period, divided by the person-years lived by the population of the receiving country over that period. It is expressed as net number of migrants per 1,000 population.
Figure 7: Net Migration Rate (per 1000 population)

Source: Department of Economic and social welfare, United Nations
12. Conclusion
Bangladesh has achieved considerable success in reducing fertility but population momentum will carry its population close to 250 million, unless something very dramatic and unforeseen occurs to bring fertility below replacement level within a decade or two.
Future trends in fertility will depend on further improvements in child survival, which has been stagnant for the past decade, following impressive gains in the 1980s. It will also depend on the changing status of women and girls, and that will require continued inputs in primary and secondary female education linked with developing formal sector employment opportunities in the rural areas, not only in the cities.
13. References

References: