Rural population (% of total population) in Bangladesh was reported at 58.77 % in 2024, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. Bangladesh - Rural population - actual values, historical data, forecasts and projections were sourced from the World Bank on August of 2025.

The share of rural population in Bangladesh amounted to 59.53 percent in 2023. The share fell by 35.34 percentage points from 1960.

Rural population in Bangladesh was reported at 102002601 in 2024, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. Bangladesh - Rural population - actual values, historical data, forecasts and projections were sourced from the World Bank on August of 2025.

Bangladesh BD: Rural Population: % of Total Population data was reported at 59.527 % in 2023. This records a decrease from the previous number of 60.289 % for 2022. Bangladesh BD: Rural Population: % of Total Population data is updated yearly, averaging 79.566 % from Dec 1960 (Median) to 2023, with 64 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 94.865 % in 1960 and a record low of 59.527 % in 2023. Bangladesh BD: Rural Population: % of Total Population 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. Rural population refers to people living in rural areas as defined by national statistical offices. It is calculated as the difference between total population and urban population.;World Bank staff estimates based on the United Nations Population Division's World Urbanization Prospects: 2018 Revision.;Weighted average;

Historical chart and dataset showing Bangladesh rural population by year from 1960 to 2023.

The advent of cheap smartphones in rural areas across the globe presents an opportunity to change the mode with which researchers engage hard-to-reach populations. In particular, smartphones allow researchers to connect with respondents more frequently than standard household surveys, opening a new window into important short-term variability in key measures of household and community wellbeing. In this paper, we present early results from a pilot study in rural Bangladesh using a ‘microtasks for micropayments’ model to collect a range of community and household living standards data using Android smartphones. We find that more frequent task repetition with shorter recall periods leads to more inclusive reporting, improved capture of intra-seasonal variability, and earlier signals of events such as illness. Payments in the form of mobile talk time and data provide a positive development externality in the form of expanded access to mobile internet and social networks. Taken to scale, programs such as this have potential to transform data collection in rural areas, providing near-real-time windows into the development of markets, the spread of illnesses, or the diffusion of ideas and innovations.

Bangladesh: Rural population, percent of total population: The latest value from 2023 is 59.53 percent, a decline from 60.29 percent in 2022. In comparison, the world average is 38.64 percent, based on data from 196 countries. Historically, the average for Bangladesh from 1960 to 2023 is 79.52 percent. The minimum value, 59.53 percent, was reached in 2023 while the maximum of 94.86 percent was recorded in 1960.

Access to electricity, rural (% of rural population) in Bangladesh was reported at 99.6 % in 2023, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. Bangladesh - Access to electricity, rural (% of rural population) - actual values, historical data, forecasts and projections were sourced from the World Bank on July of 2025.

Bangladesh BD: Rural Land Area data was reported at 79,328.863 sq km in 2015. This records a decrease from the previous number of 85,189.642 sq km for 2000. Bangladesh BD: Rural Land Area data is updated yearly, averaging 85,189.642 sq km from Dec 1990 (Median) to 2015, with 3 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 90,000.474 sq km in 1990 and a record low of 79,328.863 sq km in 2015. Bangladesh BD: Rural Land Area 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: Environmental: Land Use, Protected Areas and National Wealth. Rural land area in square kilometers, derived from urban extent grids which distinguish urban and rural areas based on a combination of population counts (persons), settlement points, and the presence of Nighttime Lights. Areas are defined as urban where contiguous lighted cells from the Nighttime Lights or approximated urban extents based on buffered settlement points for which the total population is greater than 5,000 persons.;Center for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN)/Columbia University. 2013. Urban-Rural Population and Land Area Estimates Version 2. Palisades, NY: NASA Socioeconomic Data and Applications Center (SEDAC). http://sedac.ciesin.columbia.edu/data/set/lecz-urban-rural-population-land-area-estimates-v2.;Sum;

Bangladesh LFS: Dependency Ratio: Economic: Rural data was reported at 66.200 % in 2013. This records a decrease from the previous number of 67.000 % for 2010. Bangladesh LFS: Dependency Ratio: Economic: Rural data is updated yearly, averaging 68.300 % from Jun 2000 (Median) to 2013, with 5 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 83.200 % in 2000 and a record low of 66.200 % in 2013. Bangladesh LFS: Dependency Ratio: Economic: Rural data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Bangladesh – Table BD.G012: Labour Force Survey: Dependency Ratio (Discontinued).

Abstract

The Long-Term Impact of Microcredit Impacts was conducted in 1991-1992 by Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS) and the World Bank. The survey's main focus was to provide data for an analysis of three major credit programs (Grameen Bank, Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee, and the Rural Development-12 program of the Bangladesh Rural Development Board).

The survey covered both villages from each of the programs under study as well as villages where no lending took place. The survey included 1,798 households randomly drawn from 87 villages of 29 thanas in rural Bangladesh. These households from 87 villages of 29 thanas were surveyed first in 1991-1992, and then revisited in 1998-1999.

Geographic coverage

Rural areas

Analysis unit

• Individuals,
• Households,
• Villages.

Kind of data

Sample survey data [ssd]

Sampling procedure

The survey included 1,798 households randomly drawn from 87 villages of 29 thanas in rural Bangladesh. Out of 29 thanas, 24 were program thanas (8 from each of the three programs: Grameen Bank, BRAC, and BRDB RD-12 project), and 5 were nonprogram thanas. They were selected from 391 rural thanas out of 460 thanas. Three villages in each program thana were randomly selected from a list of program villages in which a program had been in operation for at least three years. Three villages in each non-program thana were also randomly selected from the village census of the Government of Bangladesh. Villages with an unusually high or low number of households (fewer than 51 or higher than 600) were excluded from village survey design. A total of 87 villages was selected from which a total of 1,798 households were selected based on landholding.

Mode of data collection

Face-to-face [f2f]

Research instrument

The questionnaire of the first round survey includes 12 main sections:

1. Household Information
2. Education
3. Health
4. Wage Employment
5. Self-employment
6. Farming and Livestock
7. Non-farming Enterprises
8. Food Expenses
9. Marriage Age and Maternity History
10. Credit and Savings
11. Transfers and Remittances 12.Ownership of Assets.

Bangladesh Employment: Rural: Male: Employee data was reported at 14,719.000 Person th in 2022. This records an increase from the previous number of 11,711.000 Person th for 2017. Bangladesh Employment: Rural: Male: Employee data is updated yearly, averaging 11,805.000 Person th from Jun 2013 (Median) to 2022, with 4 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 14,719.000 Person th in 2022 and a record low of 11,113.000 Person th in 2013. Bangladesh Employment: Rural: Male: Employee data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Bangladesh – Table BD.G009: Labour Force Survey: Employment: by Employment Status: Rural.

Rural population growth (annual %) in Bangladesh was reported at --0.06523 % in 2024, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. Bangladesh - Rural population growth (annual %) - actual values, historical data, forecasts and projections were sourced from the World Bank on August of 2025.

Abstract

This dataset, in combination with third-party data, was used to estimate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the cognitive, language, and motor development, behavior, and growth among toddlers in rural Bangladesh. The study compared repeated cross-sectional surveys of children living in the same villages. The first survey (third party data) included 20-month-old children in 2019 and 2020 (unexposed group). The second survey (this dataset) took place in a random subset of 50 of the same villages in 2022 among 20-month-old children, who had experienced pandemic-related lockdowns from approximately mid-gestation through their first year (exposed group). Both surveys used similar inclusion criteria and the same developmental assessments (Bayley’s Scales of Infant and Toddler Development), behavior observations, and field protocols.

Geographic coverage

The survey covered 112 villages in Bangladesh

Analysis unit

Child

Kind of data

Sample survey data [ssd]

Sampling procedure

The 2022 sample was collected from a set of 50 villages randomly sampled from all 112 villages included in an earlier iron supplementation trial (Pasricha et al, New England Journal of Medicine, DOI: 10.1056/NEJMoa2034187). Children in the target age range (20 months±14 days) were identified from lists provided by government health workers and house-to-house surveys. All eligible children who were 20 months±14 days between the 22nd of March and the 31st of May 2022 and their mothers were selected and exclusion criteria included: current febrile illness, a known inherited red-cell disorder or previous transfusion, known developmental delay, or household drinking water with iron level exceeding 1 mg per liter. One village was dropped where it was not possible to find an eligible child.

Mode of data collection

Face-to-face [f2f]

Research instrument

An English version of the questionnaire is provided for download.

Its a .dta file data containing primary survey data on rural households' demographic characteristics and migration activities. The survey took place in Rangpur Division of Bangladesh in Jun-Aug 2023.

Bangladesh BD: Rural Population data was reported at 102,069,155.000 Person in 2023. This records a decrease from the previous number of 102,120,461.000 Person for 2022. Bangladesh BD: Rural Population data is updated yearly, averaging 91,395,849.500 Person from Dec 1960 (Median) to 2023, with 64 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 106,201,546.000 Person in 2007 and a record low of 49,167,258.000 Person in 1960. Bangladesh BD: Rural Population 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. Rural population refers to people living in rural areas as defined by national statistical offices. It is calculated as the difference between total population and urban population. Aggregation of urban and rural population may not add up to total population because of different country coverages.;World Bank staff estimates based on the United Nations Population Division's World Urbanization Prospects: 2018 Revision.;Sum;

The COVID-19 and information flows (CIF) constitutes a household level census of three contiguous villages- Bankina, Roail, and Shatihati, in the Tangail district of Dhaka, Bangladesh. In addition to standard socioeconomic and demographic information (e.g. marital status, employment, age, gender, living conditions, migrants, etc.), the CIF gathers information on respondents' COVID knowledge, attitudes, and practice; traces the social network of information flow between villagers; and elicits information on perceptions of respondent's economic position relative to different reference groups (e.g. neighbors, colleagues, siblings, etc.), subjective well-being, sources of help during Covid related adversities, and household GPS location coordinates. Data on 1,624 households were collected in a single wave during 09/2022 and 10/2022.

aItems used to construct the wealth index.

This line chart displays rural population (people) by date using the aggregation sum in Bangladesh. The data is about countries per year.

This horizontal bar chart displays rural population (people) by countries yearly using the aggregation sum in Bangladesh. The data is about countries per year.