The population density in Bangladesh reached its highest in 2020, amounting to approximately 1.27 thousand people per square kilometer. The South Asian country was the tenth most densely populated country in the world in 2019. Within the Asia Pacific region, Bangladesh’s population density was only exceeded by Macao, Singapore, Hong Kong, and the Maldives. Overall, Asia had the highest population density in the world in 2018.

Population growth in Bangladesh

In 1971, Bangladesh gained its independence from Pakistan. Bangladesh’s birth rate and mortality rate had declined significantly in the past years with a life expectancy of 72.59 years in 2019. In general, the population in Bangladesh had been growing at a slow pace, slightly fluctuating around an annual rate of one percent. This growth was forecasted to continue, although it was estimated to halve by 2040. As of today, Dhaka is the largest city in Bangladesh.

Population density explained

According to the source, “population density is the mid-year population divided by land area in square kilometers.” Further, “population is based on the de facto definition of population, which counts all residents.” Bangladesh’s population reached an estimated number of 164.69 million inhabitants in 2020. In 2018, the country’s land area amounted 130.2 thousand square kilometers.

Population density (people per sq. km of land area) in Bangladesh was reported at 1301 sq. Km in 2022, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. Bangladesh - Population density (people per sq. km) - actual values, historical data, forecasts and projections were sourced from the World Bank on September of 2025.

Bangladesh BD: Population Density: People per Square Km data was reported at 1,301.259 Person/sq km in 2022. This records an increase from the previous number of 1,287.999 Person/sq km for 2021. Bangladesh BD: Population Density: People per Square Km data is updated yearly, averaging 882.459 Person/sq km from Dec 1961 (Median) to 2022, with 62 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 1,301.259 Person/sq km in 2022 and a record low of 409.544 Person/sq km in 1961. Bangladesh BD: Population Density: People per Square Km data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Bangladesh – Table BD.World Bank.WDI: Population and Urbanization Statistics. Population density is midyear population divided by land area in square kilometers. Population is based on the de facto definition of population, which counts all residents regardless of legal status or citizenship--except for refugees not permanently settled in the country of asylum, who are generally considered part of the population of their country of origin. Land area is a country's total area, excluding area under inland water bodies, national claims to continental shelf, and exclusive economic zones. In most cases the definition of inland water bodies includes major rivers and lakes.;Food and Agriculture Organization and World Bank population estimates.;Weighted average;

Historical dataset showing Bangladesh population density by year from 1961 to 2022.

Population density per pixel at 100 metre resolution. WorldPop provides estimates of numbers of people residing in each 100x100m grid cell for every low and middle income country. Through ingegrating cencus, survey, satellite and GIS datasets in a flexible machine-learning framework, high resolution maps of population counts and densities for 2000-2020 are produced, along with accompanying metadata. DATASET: Alpha version 2010 and 2015 estimates of numbers of people per grid square, with national totals adjusted to match UN population division estimates (http://esa.un.org/wpp/) and remaining unadjusted. REGION: Africa SPATIAL RESOLUTION: 0.000833333 decimal degrees (approx 100m at the equator) PROJECTION: Geographic, WGS84 UNITS: Estimated persons per grid square MAPPING APPROACH: Land cover based, as described in: Linard, C., Gilbert, M., Snow, R.W., Noor, A.M. and Tatem, A.J., 2012, Population distribution, settlement patterns and accessibility across Africa in 2010, PLoS ONE, 7(2): e31743. FORMAT: Geotiff (zipped using 7-zip (open access tool): www.7-zip.org) FILENAMES: Example - AGO10adjv4.tif = Angola (AGO) population count map for 2010 (10) adjusted to match UN national estimates (adj), version 4 (v4). Population maps are updated to new versions when improved census or other input data become available. Bangladesh data available from WorldPop here.

The world's most accurate population datasets. Seven maps/datasets for the distribution of various populations in Bangladesh: (1) Overall population density (2) Women (3) Men (4) Children (ages 0-5) (5) Youth (ages 15-24) (6) Elderly (ages 60+) (7) Women of reproductive age (ages 15-49).

Bangladesh BD: Population Density: Inhabitants per sq km data was reported at 1,301.260 Person in 2022. This records an increase from the previous number of 1,288.000 Person for 2021. Bangladesh BD: Population Density: Inhabitants per sq km data is updated yearly, averaging 1,124.730 Person from Dec 1990 (Median) to 2022, with 33 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 1,301.260 Person in 2022 and a record low of 857.600 Person in 1990. Bangladesh BD: Population Density: Inhabitants per sq km data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Bangladesh – Table BD.OECD.GGI: Social: Demography: Non OECD Member: Annual.

In 1800, the population of the area of modern-day Bangladesh was estimated to be just over 19 million, a figure which would rise steadily throughout the 19th century, reaching over 26 million by 1900. At the time, Bangladesh was the eastern part of the Bengal region in the British Raj, and had the most-concentrated Muslim population in the subcontinent's east. At the turn of the 20th century, the British colonial administration believed that east Bengal was economically lagging behind the west, and Bengal was partitioned in 1905 as a means of improving the region's development. East Bengal then became the only Muslim-majority state in the eastern Raj, which led to socioeconomic tensions between the Hindu upper classes and the general population. Bengal Famine During the Second World War, over 2.5 million men from across the British Raj enlisted in the British Army and their involvement was fundamental to the war effort. The war, however, had devastating consequences for the Bengal region, as the famine of 1943-1944 resulted in the deaths of up to three million people (with over two thirds thought to have been in the east) due to starvation and malnutrition-related disease. As the population boomed in the 1930s, East Bengal's mismanaged and underdeveloped agricultural sector could not sustain this growth; by 1942, food shortages spread across the region, millions began migrating in search of food and work, and colonial mismanagement exacerbated this further. On the brink of famine in early-1943, authorities in India called for aid and permission to redirect their own resources from the war effort to combat the famine, however these were mostly rejected by authorities in London. While the exact extent of each of these factors on causing the famine remains a topic of debate, the general consensus is that the British War Cabinet's refusal to send food or aid was the most decisive. Food shortages did not dissipate until late 1943, however famine deaths persisted for another year. Partition to independence Following the war, the movement for Indian independence reached its final stages as the process of British decolonization began. Unrest between the Raj's Muslim and Hindu populations led to the creation of two separate states in1947; the Muslim-majority regions became East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) and West Pakistan (now Pakistan), separated by the Hindu-majority India. Although East Pakistan's population was larger, power lay with the military in the west, and authorities grew increasingly suppressive and neglectful of the eastern province in the following years. This reached a tipping point when authorities failed to respond adequately to the Bhola cyclone in 1970, which claimed over half a million lives in the Bengal region, and again when they failed to respect the results of the 1970 election, in which the Bengal party Awami League won the majority of seats. Bangladeshi independence was claimed the following March, leading to a brutal war between East and West Pakistan that claimed between 1.5 and three million deaths in just nine months. The war also saw over half of the country displaced, widespread atrocities, and the systematic rape of hundreds of thousands of women. As the war spilled over into India, their forces joined on the side of Bangladesh, and Pakistan was defeated two weeks later. An additional famine in 1974 claimed the lives of several hundred thousand people, meaning that the early 1970s was one of the most devastating periods in the country's history. Independent Bangladesh In the first decades of independence, Bangladesh's political hierarchy was particularly unstable and two of its presidents were assassinated in military coups. Since transitioning to parliamentary democracy in the 1990s, things have become comparatively stable, although political turmoil, violence, and corruption are persistent challenges. As Bangladesh continues to modernize and industrialize, living standards have increased and individual wealth has risen. Service industries have emerged to facilitate the demands of Bangladesh's developing economy, while manufacturing industries, particularly textiles, remain strong. Declining fertility rates have seen natural population growth fall in recent years, although the influx of Myanmar's Rohingya population due to the displacement crisis has seen upwards of one million refugees arrive in the country since 2017. In 2020, it is estimated that Bangladesh has a population of approximately 165 million people.

Persons Per 1 Sq. Mile

Comprehensive socio-economic dataset for Bangladesh including population demographics, economic indicators, geographic data, and social statistics. This dataset covers key metrics such as GDP, population density, area, capital city, and regional classifications.

Urban population (% of total population) in Bangladesh was reported at 41.23 % in 2024, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. Bangladesh - Urban population (% of total) - actual values, historical data, forecasts and projections were sourced from the World Bank on September of 2025.

In 2023, the annual population growth in Bangladesh amounted to 1.22 percent. Between 1961 and 2023, the figure dropped by 1.6 percentage points, though the decline followed an uneven course rather than a steady trajectory.

Dataset

This dataset was created by Rubayet Alam

Released under CC0: Public Domain

Contents

Tentative IAPP Locations: Source: Project Appraisal Document (PAD). Population: (Total population) (2011): Total population is based on the de facto definition of population, which counts all residents regardless of legal status or citizenship, except for refugees not permanently settled in the country of asylum, who are generally considered part of the population of their country of origin. Source: Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh -Ministry of Planning - Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics. “Population and Housing Census 2011.Preliminary Results.” Population Density (Persons per 1 square kilometer) (2011): Population divided by land area in square kilometers. Source: Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh -Ministry of Planning - Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics. “Population and Housing Census 2011.Preliminary Results.” Poverty (Proportion of population below the poverty line) (2010): Proportion of the population living on less than US$1.25 a day, measured at 2005 international prices, adjusted forpurchasing power parity (PPP). Source: Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh -Ministry of Planning - Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics. “HIES Survey 2010, Chapter 6.” Malnutrition (Proportion of underweight children under 5 years) (2011): Prevalence of severely underweight children is the percentage of children aged 0-59 months whose weight for age is less than minus 3 standard deviations below the median weight for age of the international reference population. Source: “Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey 2011. Preliminary Report.”Measure DHS. MEASURE DHS (Demographic and Health Surveys) Project is responsible for collecting and disseminating accurate, nationally representative data on health and population in developing countries. The project is implemented by Macro International, Inc. and is funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) with contributions from other donors such as UNICEF, UNFPA, WHO, UNAIDS. Irrigation (2009/10): Total Irrigated Area in Acres (Thousands). Source: Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh -Ministry of Planning - Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics.2010 Yearbook of Agricultural Statistics of Bangladesh.

this graph was created in R:

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driven primarily by high birth rates in developing countries and advancements in healthcare. According to the United Nations, the global population surpassed 8 billion in 2023, marking a critical milestone in human history. This growth, however, is unevenly distributed across continents and countries, leading to varied population densities and urban pressures.

Surface area and population density play vital roles in shaping the demographic and economic landscape of each country. For instance, countries with large land masses such as Russia, Canada, and Australia have low population densities despite their significant populations, as vast portions of their land are sparsely populated or uninhabitable. Conversely, nations like Bangladesh and South Korea exhibit extremely high population densities due to smaller land areas combined with large populations.

Population density, measured as the number of people per square kilometer, affects resource availability, environmental sustainability, and quality of life. High-density areas face greater challenges in housing, infrastructure, and environmental management, often experiencing increased pollution and resource strain. In contrast, low-density areas may struggle with underdeveloped infrastructure and limited access to services due to the dispersed population.

Urbanization trends are another important aspect of these dynamics. As people migrate to cities seeking better economic opportunities, urban areas grow more densely populated, amplifying the need for efficient land use and sustainable urban planning. The UN reports that over half of the world’s population currently resides in urban areas, with this figure expected to rise to nearly 70% by 2050. This shift requires nations to balance population growth and density with sustainable development strategies to ensure a higher quality of life and environmental stewardship for future generations.

Through an understanding of population size, surface area, and density, policymakers can better address challenges related to urban development, rural depopulation, and resource allocation, supporting a balanced approach to population management and economic development.

A database was generated of estimates of geographically referenced carbon densities of forest vegetation in tropical Southeast Asia for 1980. A geographic information system (GIS) was used to incorporate spatial databases of climatic, edaphic, and geomorphological indices and vegetation to estimate potential (i.e., in the absence of human intervention and natural disturbance) carbon densities of forests. The resulting map was then modified to estimate actual 1980 carbon density as a function of population density and climatic zone. The database covers the following 13 countries: Bangladesh, Brunei, Cambodia (Campuchea), India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar (Burma), Nepal, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Vietnam. For access to the data files, click this link to the CDIAC data transition website: http://cdiac.ess-dive.lbl.gov/epubs/ndp/ndp068/ndp068.html

Mogadishu in Somalia led the ranking of cities with the highest population density in 2023, with ****** residents per square kilometer. When it comes to countries, Monaco is the most densely populated state worldwide.

Tentative IAPP Locations: Source: Project Appraisal Document (PAD). Population: (Total population) (2011): Total population is based on the de facto definition of population, which counts all residents regardless of legal status or citizenship, except for refugees not permanently settled in the country of asylum, who are generally considered part of the population of their country of origin. Source: Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh -Ministry of Planning - Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics. “Population and Housing Census 2011.Preliminary Results.” Population Density (Persons per 1 square kilometer) (2011): Population divided by land area in square kilometers. Source: Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh -Ministry of Planning - Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics. “Population and Housing Census 2011.Preliminary Results.” Poverty (Proportion of population below the poverty line) (2010): Proportion of the population living on less than US$1.25 a day, measured at 2005 international prices, adjusted forpurchasing power parity (PPP). Source: Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh -Ministry of Planning - Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics. “HIES Survey 2010, Chapter 6.” Malnutrition (Proportion of underweight children under 5 years) (2011): Prevalence of severely underweight children is the percentage of children aged 0-59 months whose weight for age is less than minus 3 standard deviations below the median weight for age of the international reference population. Source: “Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey 2011. Preliminary Report.”Measure DHS. MEASURE DHS (Demographic and Health Surveys) Project is responsible for collecting and disseminating accurate, nationally representative data on health and population in developing countries. The project is implemented by Macro International, Inc. and is funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) with contributions from other donors such as UNICEF, UNFPA, WHO, UNAIDS. Irrigation (2009/10): Total Irrigated Area in Acres (Thousands). Source: Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh -Ministry of Planning - Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics.2010 Yearbook of Agricultural Statistics of Bangladesh.

人口密度：每平方公里人口在12-01-2022达1,301.259Person/sq km，相较于12-01-2021的1,287.999Person/sq km有所增长。人口密度：每平方公里人口数据按年更新，12-01-1961至12-01-2022期间平均值为882.459Person/sq km，共62份观测结果。该数据的历史最高值出现于12-01-2022，达1,301.259Person/sq km，而历史最低值则出现于12-01-1961，为409.544Person/sq km。CEIC提供的人口密度：每平方公里人口数据处于定期更新的状态，数据来源于World Bank，数据归类于全球数据库的孟加拉 – Table BD.World Bank.WDI: Population and Urbanization Statistics。

Bangladesh is a South Asian country located at the crossroads of the Indochina and Indo-Himalayan subregions, making it a country of rich faunal diversity. Bangladesh's high population density paired with rapid habitat alteration leaving only 6% of its natural habitats threatens its faunal diversity. Over 1,455 bat species live on earth, providing immense ecological services to maintain biodiversity. The paucity of bat research in Bangladesh and the lack of comprehensive work has led us to set the goal of checking how many species are present in Bangladesh, and the possibility of bat species yet to have occurred. Here we compiled species occurrence data on the bats of Bangladesh and states in neighboring countries (India – states are West Bengal, Sikkim, Meghalaya, Assam, Tripura, Mizoram; Myanmar – states are Chin, Rakhine) from the museums (American Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, Natural History Museum at United Kingdom, Field Museum of Natural History, Hungarian Natural History Museum, and Royal Ontario Museum), Global Biodiversity Information Facility, and literature, and constructed distribution maps for each species. The maps depicted both the fine-scale and coarse-scale distribution of the species. We confirmed 31 species are occurring in Bangladesh – among them, 22 species are confirmed with the voucher specimen, 15 species are associated with the preserved tissues, and one is confirmed with the morphometric data and key characteristics. Based on the species occurrence in the states of India and Myanmar, along with the habitat preference, an additional 83 species are yet to have occurred in Bangladesh. Among them, 38 species are categorized as Highly Probable, 33 species are Probable, and 10 species are Possible. We recommend bat surveys are urgent in Bangladesh using all complementary capture techniques that will contribute to voucher specimen collections and confirm the presence of bats. In addition, echolocation calls of bats can help establish call libraries.