Group# 1 Cambodia

Consumer profile of Cambodia

Cambodia, over the last 20years through its economic performance has attracted many
multinational companies and are still attracting many to set up their businesses in the
country. Before setting up in a country it is important to know about the market and the
first step of knowing the market is through its people.

Population and Age Distribution in Cambodia

In comparison to Bangladesh, Cambodia’s population is ten times lesser as the
population is comprised of only 16.25 million people where is in terms of land
Cambodia is bigger than Bangladesh with a land area of 181,030 square kilometers. The
urban areas are the densest and are still facing a rise in population. The major city of
Cambodia is Phnom Penh which has a population of 2.5 million. The male to female
ration in the country is almost equal which represent equal opportunity for gender-
based products.
The current age distribution of Cambodia is comprised of 48% of people are below 25
years old and 41% are from 25 to 54 years old with the median age of 25.7 years. This
indicated that the country is bursting with opportunities as the younger generation will
soon take over and they will be willing to try out new things and experiences. Even the
second largest age group that is 25 to 54 years old represent a population that are also
interested or willing to learn to use new product or experience new services. Overall,
the age distribution of Cambodia is lining more towards the young generation.

Employment Levels and Career Trends

The most significant number of people in Cambodia are working in the service sector,
however the second highest employment is in the agricultural sector and the rest are in
the secondary sector. Unemployment is not an issue as only 0.68% of the people are
noted to have no jobs. The reason why most people are employed in the service sector is
because Cambodia’s second most earning is made from tourism and hence most of the
population is engaged services supporting tourism. The top hiring industries are
Hotel/Lodging, Banking, Education and Food and Beverage production. Age group of 18
to 24 are the largest working population the next is 25 to 34 years old age group. This
indicated that the significant number are dynamic as they are younger in age and are
looking forward to new experiences.

Employment

Agricultur
e Service
32% 39%

Industry
29%

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Group# 1 Cambodia

Income Statistics of Cambodia

Cambodia has been titled as a lower middle income in 2015 however the country is
heading towards being an upper middle-income country at a quick pace. The income
distribution of the country is fairly distributed even the lowest earning people can be
considered to have decent standard of living. The highest income earned in Cambodia is
14,800 thousand KHR which is equal to 300 thousand BDT and the minimum income
earned is 838 thousand KHR which is equivalent to 17 thousand BDT. Hence, he average
income of the Cambodian working population is 3,310 thousand which is nearly 68
thousand BDT. Hence it can be concluded that the population have enough money to
spend on foreign goods and services. The gap between the highest and lowest income
may seem huge however more people are earning closer to the highest income than the
lowest. Cambodians also experience rise in salary due to increasing years of experience
and education levels as well, a person with 2 to 5 years of experience can enjoy almost
32%increase in their salaries. As most of the population earns at a medium level of
income and slowly moving towards upper middle income level, it can be said their
middle class income group consisting of lower middle class, middle class and upper
middle class are the most lucrative target group with the maximum population
belonging to this group. A slight inequality of income does exist amongst the genders
where men in all sectors earn 16% more than women.

Education level in Cambodia

80% of the Cambodian population are literate. The minimum level of literacy is being
able to read and write. Although it was a problem early, however both male and female
population are now almost equally educated. The Government has also been constantly
spending in education to keep a steady rate of literacy. The University of Cambodia had
four thousand student enrollments is the past period and there are 40 more universities
set in the country. So, this tells us that are huge number of graduates coming out of
college each year.

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Group# 1 Cambodia

Religion of Cambodians
Buddhism is followed by most of the population (97.9%) sometimes several forms of
Buddhism is followed. Islam (1.1%) and Christianity (0.5%) are also followed by a
minority of the population.

Culture of Cambodia
The Cambodians are influenced heavily by the Khmer culture. Although the cruelty of
the culture has faded over time still some values of the culture are still lingering. Family
values are given the most importance it is traditional to live with the extended family.
Fathers are the head of the family and are the main decision maker. They enjoy eating
and enjoying their food in family gatherings. Although the growing number of teens are
ready for a different lifestyle because they are influenced by foreign television. Still the
love for family and family gathering exists. Food and coffee are enjoyed in groups and
hence all restaurants and cafes are family themed. This represents that collectivism is
present in the culture characteristics. The Cambodians love for fresh food is
incomparable they love to eat fresh vegetables and fish and their staple food is rice. The
taste of their food is mostly mildly spiced however has a hint of tanginess with all their
food. This may be because of the availability and production of sour fruit within the
country.

Key takeaways from the research

 More people are living in the Urban areas
 Median age for the population is 25.7 years
 Since only 0.68% people are unemployed, most of the population have earning
source and can spend on their own.
 People are employed the most in the service sectors considering the country mostly
relying on tourism sector
 Majority of the population are young professionals
 Since the there is an increase in income level, the people are becoming more and
more open to foreign brands
 Cambodians have a moderate to high standard of living
 Almost everyone can read and write which makes them more conscious about their
purchases being aware of everything regarding the product as a consumer.
 Buddhism is the main religion
 Family is given importance
 Collectivist society
 Young generation are adapting to new lifestyles
 They love tangy food.

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