Population
Population is a group of individuals inhabiting in the same area. Demography is a social
science which entails the statistical study of populations.
Demographic and Social Indicators for population in Bangladesh
Indicators 2018
Total Population (Million) 164.6
Male 82.4
Female 82.2
Growth rate 1.37
Total fertility rate (15-49 years) 2.05
Life expectancy at birth (years) 72.3
Male 70.8
Female 73.8
Literacy rate of population (7+
73.2
years)
Source: MSVSB, 2018
The current population of Bangladesh is 167,451,288 based on projections of the
latest United Nations data. The UN estimates the July 1, 2022 population
at 167,885,689.
The population growth rate has significantly decreased in Bangladesh over the
last 60 years, peaking at 3.23% in 1967 and is now as low as 1%. Despite this, the
population continues to grow and Bangladesh continues to be one of the most
populated countries in the world.
Bangladesh population pyramid 2022
Causes for the growth of population in Bangladesh
1. Excess of birth over death: The two elements that regulate population growth
are birth and death rates. The birth rate of our country is greater than the death
rate which increases the population.
2. Progress in medical knowledge and its application has considerably reduced the
death rate. It has also helped us to control the spread of diseases like Malaria,
T.B., Cholera, Plague, Influenza etc., and protected the lives of people from the
jaws of death. Positively it has contributed to greater population.
3. Improvement in transport facilities has helped people to avail of medical and
health facilities without much difficulty. These have saved countless lives and
added to the size of the population.
4. Improvements in the field of agriculture and industry also contributed to an
increase in population. Uncertainties in the field of agriculture have largely been
removed with the help of science and technology. Food production has
considerably increased. Industries have been providing employment
opportunities to thousands of persons. These developments have given people
the confidence that they can afford to feed more people.
5. Religious influence: Some orthodox people opine that to adopt family planning
measure is a sinful act. They think,“God will feed everyone whom he has
created.”
Being influenced by them, many people do not adopt family planning measures.
As a result, population goes on increasing day by day.
6. Female Education: As 50% of the total population of our country are of the
female sex. However, in our country, women are not properly get chance to be
educated. Without being an educated person, they cannot understand many
important things in life as like population problem. In our country, women does
not conscious for their conceives. They are not aware of this big problem.
7. Certain social factors like universal marriage, child marriage, early marriage
have also contributed to the problem. People in our country consider marriage as
a social obligation and almost all marriageable persons are in a married state.
Life-long bachelorship is looked down. Particularly for women, marriage is
almost an inescapable obligation. In early age’s marriage people unable to realize
the value of birth controlling. Because they have the lack of knowledge. This
custom has also influences the population growth.
8. Lack of conscious family planning: There is the lack of conscious family
planning on the part of the married people. He use of contraceptives is unknown
to the illiterate masses. People feel that more children are waned for economic
purposes. Further blind faith in fate induces begetting children.
9. Polygamy: The system of polygamy has worsened the population problem in our
country. Sometimes a man takes two, three, or even more wives at the same time.
As a result, population increases
10. The climate conditions of Bangladesh are also conducive to the growth of
population. The tropical climate stimulates ex urge. Further girls become
physically mature at an early age ranging from 11-15 years of age.
11. Lack of entertainment facilities: it has been observed that people especially in
the rural areas, have forced to get marriage to find entertainment in the absence
of proper entertainment facilities. This has further aggravated the problem.
Is population a problem or resource for a country? Explain.
Population, if manageable and efficient, is an asset to any country. It is the index of its
inner strength. It leads to better and fuller exploitation of its natural resources. But if it
becomes unmanageable, it eats into the vitals of the nation and becomes an evil. A
large size of population by itself must not be confused with overpopulation. A country is
over populated our under populated in relation to its area, resources and their utilization.
At the present stage of her development, there is little doubt that Bangladesh is over
populated. Population has become a socio-economic problem for Bangladesh.
