Population growth declines

Bangladesh currently has a total population of over 16.51 crore, according to the preliminary data from the “Population and Housing Census 2022” conducted by the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS).

Women currently outnumber men in the census with 8.17 crore of the total population being men and 8.33 crore being women. Currently, there are 98 men against every 100 women in the country, said the data.

The country’s population has increased by 2.11 crore people to 16,51,58,616 in the last decade.

However, according to the data, the population growth rate has declined to 1.22 per cent. The rate was 1.86 per cent during the last census conducted in 2011 when the total population was over 14.40 crore.

The growth rate was 2.84 per cent in 1981, 2.01 per cent in 1991, and 1.58 per cent in 2001.

According to the latest census data, among the country’s eight divisions, Dhaka has the highest population growth rate — 1.74 per cent — and Barishal the lowest — 0.79 per cent.

The average population density around the country at present is 1,119 people per square kilometre. A total of 11,30,63,587 people live in rural areas and 5,20,09,072 live in urban areas.

The BBS revealed the preliminary report on the census data at an event at Bangabandhu International Conference Centre in Dhaka on Wednesday. Speaker of the parliament Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury attended the programme as the chief guest.

Addressing the event, Project Director of the census Md Dilder Hossain said the census was scheduled to be conducted in 2021 but was delayed due to the Covid 19 pandemic. For the first time, the work of population census was conducted completely digitally, he said.

“We are aiming to provide complete data on the overall population, its composition, workforce, density, housing and other socio-economic indicators which are vital for formulating proper economic and other policies,” he added.

Rural and urban differences

According to the latest census, of the country’s total rural population of over 11.3 crore, over 5.5 crore are male and over 5.7 crore are female.

In 2011, the total was more than 11.04 crore with over 5.45 crore males and over 5.59 crore females.

On the other hand, of the total urban population of over 5.2 crore, more than 2.6 crore are male and over 2.5 crore are female.

In 2011, the total was over 3.35 crore with more than 1.75 crore males and over 1.60 crore females.

Meanwhile, Dhaka Division has the highest population with over 4.4 crore and Barishal Division has the lowest — over 91 lakh, according to the census data.

Of the city corporation areas, Dhaka North City Corporation has the highest population with over 59 lakh and Barishal City Corporation has the lowest with over 4.19 lakh.

Ethnic minority groups

According to the preliminary report, the current population of ethnic minority groups in the country is more than 16.50 lakh.

The largest number of people from ethnic minority groups — over 9.90 lakh — lives in Chattogram Division and the lowest is 4,181 in Barishal.

Literacy rate

According to census data, the country’s literacy rate is current 74.66 per cent. Of that, the male literacy rate is 76.56 per cent and the female literacy rate is 72.82 per cent.

Dhaka has the highest literacy rate of 78.09 per cent and Mymensingh has the lowest — 67.09 per cent.

The national literacy rate was 51.77 per cent in 2011. Of that, the male literacy rate was 54.11 per cent and the female literacy rate was 49.44 per cent.

Religious

Between 2011 and 2022, the number of Muslims increased in the country while the number of people from other religions decreased, according to the preliminary report on the census.

According to the data, 91.04 per cent of the total population is Muslim. It was 90.39 per cent in 2011.

On the other hand, the number of Hindus, Christians, Buddhists and people from other religious communities is decreasing in almost all categories.

The country currently has a Hindu population of 7.95 per. It was 8.54 per cent in 2011.

Also, the Buddhist population currently is 0.61 per cent. It was 0.62 per cent in 2011. Currently, the Christian population is 0.30 per cent, which was 0.31 per cent in the last census.

Others

According to the report, the current floating population across the country is 22,119. Most of them are male.

At the same time, the number of people from the Hijra community is 12,629.

Meanwhile, the total number of people with disabilities in the country is 23.61 lakh, which is 1.43 per cent of the total population.

Of them, over 13.34 lakh are male and over 10.27 lakh are female.

Mobile and internet users

Of the total population, 55.89 per cent — aged five or above — currently use mobile phones. Of them, 66.53 per cent are male and 45.53 per cent female.

Also, 30.68 per cent of the total population from the same age limit are internet users. Of them, 38.02 per cent are male and 23.52 per cent female.

According to the report, Dhaka has the highest number of mobile users and internet users aged five or above — amounting to 62.02 per cent and 40.41 per cent, respectively.

Sylhet has the lowest number of mobile users with 47.55 per cent stake and Rangpur has the lowest number of internet users — 17.67 per cent.

The report also said that of the total population, aged 18 or above, 72.31 per cent uses mobile phones and 37.01 per cent use the internet.

Number of households

According to census data, there are more than 3.5 crore households in the country. Of those, over 2.78 crore are in rural areas and over 81.79 lakh in urban areas.

Dhaka Division has the highest number of households — more than 81.19 lakh — and Sylhet Division has the lowest — over 18.85 lakh.

At the same time, 65.26 per cent of the total population are currently married in the country. It was 63.12 per cent in the last census.

Rajshahi has the highest number of both marriage ceremonies and divorces.

The sixth census and house enumeration activities started across the country on June 15 and ended on June 28.

BBS carries out the census once each decade. The first population census was conducted in 1974, the second one was done in 1981, followed by three more in 1991, 2001, and 2011.