Women outlive men in Bangladesh: BBS report

The gain in life expectancy is higher among women (73.8 years) than men (70.8 years), said the report titled “Bangladesh Sample Vital Statistics 2018”. It was published yesterday at Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) auditorium in the city’s Agargaon area.

According to the report, life expectancy at birth in the country has increased to 72.3 years in 2018 up from 72 years in 2017.

The latest report said that the total population of the country as of January 1, 2019 stood at 165.57 million, with 82.87 million men and 82.70 million women.

The report said the crude birth rate (CBR), the simplest measure of fertility, was estimated at 18.3 per thousand in 2018, which was 18.5 the previous year. The CBR fell from 18.9 in 2014 to 18.3 in 2018.

The crude death rate (CDR) declined from 5.2 in 2014 to 5.0 in 2018 while infant mortality rate (IMR) recorded a moderate fall from 24 per thousand live births in 2017 to 22 per thousand live births in 2018.

The neonatal mortality rate fell from 21 deaths per 1000 live births in 2014 to 16 deaths per 1000 live births in 2018 revealing notable sex differentials in favor of females.

Maternal mortality rate has shown a consistent fall over the last five years from 1.93 maternal deaths per 1000 live births in 2014 to 1.69 in 2018, showing about a 12 percent decline.

Speaking on the occasion, Planning Minister MA Mannan said that BBS has already attained a level of credibility, as global organisations like the International Monetary Fund and Asian Development Bank speak highly of BBS.