Life expectancy at birth increases to 72.4 yrs: BBS

The life expectancy at birth in Bangladesh has slightly increased to 72.4 years in 2022 up from 72.3 years in 2021.

The life expectancy at birth for male also increased to 70.8 years in 2022 up from 70.6 years in 2021. On the other hand, the life expectancy at birth for females reached at 74.2 years in 2022 against 74.1 years in 2021.

These were revealed at the publication ceremony of important findings of "Bangladesh Sample Vital Statistics 2022" held at the auditorium of the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) in the capital today. The findings were published under the Sample Vital Registration System (SVRS) in Digital Platform project.

Planning Minister MA Mannan spoke on the occasion as the chief guest while State Minister for Planning Dr. Shamsul Alam and Statistics and Informatics Division Secretary Dr. Shahnaz Arefin spoke as special guests.

Chaired by Director General of BBS Porimal Chandra Basu (in routine charge), Project Director of the SVRS Md Alamgir Hossain made a power-point presentation. BBS Director Masud Alam gave the address of welcome.

The SVRS 2022 also said that the total number of population on January 1, 2023 based on Population and Housing Census 2022 was 170.84 million including 84.58 million male and 86.16 million female.

The total number of primary sampling units remained the same at 2,012 in 2022 while the total sampling population were 13,02,788 including 6,42,845 male, 6,59,873 female and 70 hijra.

While analyzing the population by broad age-groups in years, it was found that in 2022, some 28.7 percent of population belonged to 0-14 years group, 53.6 percent of population belonged to 15-49 years group, 9 percent of population belonged to 50-59 years group while 8.7 percent of population belonged to 60+ years group.

The crude birth rate (per 1,000 population) in 2022 increased to 19.3 up from 18.8 in 2021 while the normal types of delivery in 2022 was 58.5 percent against C-Section of 41.4 percent.

The SVRS 2022 findings also highlighted that the crude death rate (per 1000 population) has slightly increased to 5.8 in 2022 up from 5.7 in 2021 while the infant mortality rate (per 1000 live births) also increased to 25 in 2022 up from 22 in 2021.

The maternal mortality ratio (per 100000 live births) declined to 156 in 2022 down from 168 in 2021. The crude marriage rate (per 1000 population) in 2022 increased to 18.1 while the crude divorce rate (per 1,000 population) in 2022 also raised to 1.4 up from 0.7 in 2021.

Speaking on the occasion, the Planning Minister said that the publication of the SVRS 2022 showed that the interest of the common people has increased towards the statistics of BBS.

Noting that the main message of the current Awami League government is becoming self-reliant, he said that a "Revolution of Development" is now going on in the country under the dynamic leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

Mannan said although the government is now under some pressure due to the global uncertainties, but the government is not under any crisis.

He said that the government of Sheikh Hasina would do its best to give relief to the commoners from the inflationary pressure. "Let us be economical and don‍‍`t waste."

State Minister for Planning Dr. Shamsul Alam said that the SVRS 2022 would help the policymakers in getting data of some 138 indices related to population while it would also help in getting data on some 27 indices related to SDGs.

He noted that the life expectancy at birth, the international migration and the number of internet users have increased in the country while the government would have to give more attention in population management with the increase in population growth.

Statistics and Informatics Division Secretary Dr. Shahnaz Arefin informed that the BBS has been working to increase the coverage of SVRS alongside on how to incorporate more data. 

The findings revealed that the rate of natural increase of population in 2022 increased to 1.35 percent up from 1.30 percent in 2021 while the sex ratio of male was 97.5 percent against females in 2022 which was 98.1 percent in 2021.

The density of population also increased to 1,163 for per square kilometer in 2022 against 1,153 in 2021. 

The key findings of SVRS 2022 showed that the access to drinking water from tap and tube well in the country remained at 97 percent in 2022 while the source of electricity has increased to 97.14 percent in 2022 up from 96.86 percent in 2021.

It said that the literacy rate of population (7+ years) has increased to 76.8 percent which was 76.4 years in 2021 while the adult literacy rate of population (15+ years) has also raised to 74.4 percent in 2022 which was 74.1 percent in 2021.

The SVRS 2022 showed that the proportion of individuals who own a mobile telephone (15 years+) increased to 73.8 percent in 2022 up from 71.3 percent in 2021. 

It said that the proportion of individuals using the internet (15 years +) rose to 45.5 percent in 2022 up from 43.7 percent in 2021.

The findings also showed that the internal in-migration rate (per 1,000 population) in 2022 increased to 30.9 which was 24.7 in 2021 while the in-flow mobility rate (per 1000 population) increased to 110.8 in 2022 up from 60.2 in 2021.

The contraceptive prevalence rate and safely managed sanitation services also declined in 2022 while crude disability rate increased.