POPULATION AND ENVIRONMENT :

ISSUES AND CHALLENGES FOR

BANGLADESH

-
POPULATION AND ENVIRONMENT
DEMOGRAPHIC TRENDS IN BANGLADESH

 Highly densely populated country of the world

 Expected population by 2050: 173 million

 High birth and death rate, led to stable

population till 18th century- stationery
 19th century- ↑ population as mortality ↓

 20th century- Density of population ↑

 As a result of ↑ population growth
POPULATION AND ENVIRONMENT
DEMOGRAPHIC TRENDS IN
BANGLADESH
3 stages of population:
↑ birth rate ↑ death rate
↑ birth rate ↓ death rate
↓ birth rate ↓ death rate

Size of population:
1700- 17 million
1931- 35.6 million
1974- 71.5 million
1991- 111.5 million
2001- 129.3 million
POPULATION AND ENVIRONMENT
DEMOGRAPHIC TRENDS IN
BANGLADESH
Growth rate:

 Till
1770: 0.2%
 1770: - 1.20% (21% died in famine)
 1850-1950: below 1%
 1961-1991: Over 2% (↑ fertility and ↓ mortality
caused population
growth)
 In 2000: 1.42% because of sharp ↓ fertility I
n the 80s and 90s
POPULATION AND ENVIRONMENT
DEMOGRAPHIC TRENDS IN
BANGLADESH
Age-sex composition:

Sex ratio
1901--- 111.3 ( under-enumeration of women and high
female mortality )
1911--- 104.5
1951--- 109.7 (increased for some reasons)
1996--- 105 ( reduced mortality and intll. migration)
 Urban sex ratio is higher rural.
 Urban sex ratio decreased over years for active female
participation in labor force.
POPULATION AND ENVIRONMENT
DEMOGRAPHIC TRENDS IN
BANGLADESH
Age composition:

Young population (0-14) is proportionately high

1974: 48% (↓ infant and child mortality 
highest ever rise in history)
1996: 40.7% (↓ young population because of ↓
fertility)
POPULATION AND ENVIRONMENT
DEMOGRAPHIC TRENDS IN
BANGLADESH
Age composition:

 Old population (60+) increased from 4.4% to 8% in 1996

 Population aged 15-59 remain stable at 51.4% in 1996

Dependency ratio:

 1911------- 88
 1961------- 105 and remained stable since then
POPULATION AND ENVIRONMENT
DEMOGRAPHIC TRENDS IN
BANGLADESH
Regional distribution:

Dhaka division has highest concentration(30%), followed by

Chittagong and Rajshahi

Growth of urban population :

 Low level of urbanization until 1951 due to absence of

industrialization and modernization under colonial powers

 Rapid urbanization after independence

 Dhaka turned to a mega city

POPULATION AND ENVIRONMENT
DEMOGRAPHIC TRENDS IN
BANGLADESH
Population processes:
Fertility :
Crude birth rate (CBR):
1961----- 47
1998----- 19.9
Rural CBR 21.4%, urban CBR 14%

Total fertility rate (TFR):

1971----- 6.02
1998----- 3.3

Expected TFR ( by 2005): 2.2

POPULATION AND ENVIRONMENT
DEMOGRAPHIC TRENDS IN
BANGLADESH
Mortality:

Rate of mortality going down faster than fertility rates

CDR in 1901 was 44.4

In 1998 was 4.8

Why has mortality declined ?

 Control of epidemics
 Improved health care services
 Control of disease
 Health awareness
 Rise in living standard
POPULATION AND ENVIRONMENT
DEMOGRAPHIC TRENDS IN
BANGLADESH
Life expectancy:
1974----- 46.2 yrs
1998----- 60.8 yrs

Infant mortality rate (IMR) per 1000 live births:

1911----- 205 1981----- 112
1950----- 160 1991----- 92
1974------ 153 1998----- 57
POPULATION AND ENVIRONMENT
DEMOGRAPHIC TRENDS IN
BANGLADESH
Maternal mortality rate (MMR):
1986 -- 6.48
1990 -- 4.78
1998 -- 3.0

Migration by direction (in the year 1998):

Rural  rural 12.05
Rural  urban 9.23
Urban  rural 0.79
Urban  urban 32.05
POPULATION AND ENVIRONMENT
DEMOGRAPHIC TRENDS IN
BANGLADESH

However rural- urban migration is increasing due to exploitative

agrarian relations and no adequate means of livelihood

Population projection: by the year 2020:

Population-------------------------169.5 million
Life expectancy------------------ 67 yrs
% urban population–------------ 40
Women in reproductive age --- 48 million
CPR--------------------------------- 70% (53.4% in 2002)
POPULATION AND ENVIRONMENT
DEMOGRAPHIC TRENDS IN
BANGLADESH

Think yourself:

What would be implications of the

demographic changes and population
projections for the socio- economic
development of Bangladesh?
What are your recommendations?