Female workforce rising rapidly
With a greater number of women getting involved in economic activities, the country's female labour force will account for more than one-third of the total workforce by 2021, according to a census of Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics.
Female labour force increased to 5.5 million in 2011 from 2.7 million in 2001. Given the growth rate, it will be 33.5 million of the entire workforce of 82.4 million by 2021, shows the Population and Housing Census 2011 of the BBS.
In 2011, female labour force accounted for a little more than one-seventh of the total workforce of 41 million.
The BBS launched the census report at a ceremony in the capital's Sonargaon Hotel yesterday. The census data is available on the BBS official website.
The number of youths aged between 15 and 29 now stands at 44.4 million, which will go up to 50.8 million by 2026. The growth rate will gradually decline, and the number will drop to 40.2 million in 2061, according to a BBS projection.
It observes the country has not yet been fully successful in reaping the benefits of demographic dividend, and that investment is needed in education and human capital development.
The BBS projects that the country's population could be 251.45 million or 223.39 million or 209.42 million in 2061 under high, medium and low variant fertility assumption.
In 2011, the population was 149.8 million, which will reach 160.2 million next year, it says.
“A sharp increase of urban population has been depicted in all three scenarios, more specifically, urban population in 2061 will be more than twofold from that of the base year 2011,” says the BBS, stressing the need for a plan to handle the growth.
The BBS compared the 2011 census data with the previous ones to weigh up what challenges population density and vulnerability will pose to the country's sustainable development.
Bangladesh's most densely populated district is Dhaka followed by Narayanganj. Dhaka, Chittagong, Sylhet, Rangpur and Mymensingh are highly vulnerable because of high density, shows BBS analysis.
The BBS also made an observation on nuptial age. “Although the legal age of marriage in Bangladesh is 18 years, but this study found that almost half of all marriages take place before the legal age,” it says.
The BBS says poverty significantly retards international migration and suggests that the government play an active role in this regard.
The census revealed that the prevalence of disability is higher among the elderly than the young and in males than females. Disability contributes to a higher divorce rate in addition to being an impediment to marriage.
The BBS monograph shows that significant disparity exists between urban and rural areas in terms of literacy rate, among different administrative divisions of the country and between the poor and non-poor.
In another monograph, the BBS indicates that the fertility rate in the districts of Chittagong and Sylhet divisions are higher than other districts. These divisions have high number of population in the lower age group (0-4 and 5-9).
As per the 2011 census, the percentage of the elderly is 7.7 in the total population, and among all divisions, the number of elderly is the highest in Barisal.
The BBS recommends that public programmes, including pension schemes and national healthcare systems, should be enhanced both in terms of size and coverage.
It has also updated upazila-level Small Area Atlas of 1984 and population details of the 2011 census.
Planning Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal, Senior Secretary of Planning Commission Dr Shamsul Alam, Ambassador of European Union Pierre Mayaudon, UNFPA Representative Argentina Matavel Piccin, Secretary of Statistics and Information Division Kaniz Fatema and BBS Director General Mohammad Abdul Wazed were present at the launching ceremony.
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