According to the current State of World Population Report, which was released here today, maternal mortality and child marriage rates in Bangladesh are decreasing, while contraceptive prevalence is increasing.
“Maternal mortality and child marriage rates are declining and the contraceptive prevalence rate is rising. Despite this marked success, we need to do way more to achieve three zeros and SDGs,” Kristine Blokhus, Country Representative of the UNFPA in Bangladesh, said while unveiling the report at UNFPA Bangladesh office here.
The UNFPA released the State of World Population report, which examines major developments and critical trends in global population and demographics.
According to the most recent census, Bangladesh’s total population will be 169.8 million in 2022. According to the research, the country’s population is 173 million, with a projection for 2023.
According to the Census, there are more females (50.43 percent) than males (49.51 percent) in Bangladesh, which has ramifications for society and the economy, including enjoying the gender dividend.
The population age structure demonstrates a positive demographic transition, with 26 percent of the population aged 0-14, 68 percent aged 15-64, and 6 percent aged 65 and up.
According to the research, life expectancy at birth is 72 for men and 76 for women in 2023 (70.6 for men and 74.1 for women in 2021).
According to Kristine Blokhus, maternal mortality is stated in the report in 123 (death per 100,000 live births), which should be explained with caution because it is based on a new estimate done by UNFPA, WHO, the World Bank, and UNICEF.
She said 51 percent of girls are married before they turn 18 (50 percent before aged 18 and 27 percent before 15, BDHS 2022). Bangladesh continues to have the highest rate of child marriage in Asia, she added.
About high rate of adolescent pregnancy, the UNFPA representative said adolescent birth per 1,000 girls aged 15-19 years is 74, while almost one in every four married adolescents already started childbearing.
Contraceptive prevalence rate is 64 percent.
There is a marked heterogeneity in terms of women’s fertility preferences – while some women in Bangladesh preferred not to have children because they could not ensure their survival, others wanted to increase their family size by at least one son, which was seen as helping the family’s security, Kristine Blokhus said.
