Population Challenges for Bangladesh in the Coming Decades

Key messages

The UN projection would require an average annual growth rate of 1.29% from today to 2050. As the CDR will not fall below 8/1,000, the CBR would have to remain, on average, at least 21/1,000 [The population growth rate (natural increase, not including international migration) is the difference between CBR and CDR, expressed as a percentage, not per 1,000]. This is unlikely as even if the TFR remains at a plateau at replacement level through 2050, the population-ageing process will bring the CBR down below 20 within a decade or so. Simultaneously, the population-ageing process will start to push the CDR beyond 8/1,000 from around 2020, which will further reduce the population growth rate.