Dhaka: Bangladesh's population index crossed 16 crore mark in last one year with a growth rate of 1.7 per cent, slightly more than India's 1.5 per cent, according to the latest United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) report published here today.
The country's population with the present growth rate will reach 25.41 crore in 2050, says the report, while India with its population expected to be 165.8 crore, will become the most populous nation overtaking China by that year.
China with 0.6 per cent growth will have 140.8 crore inhabitants by 2050,according to the report released simultaneously in other countries of the world.
Pakistan, whose population is 16.7 crore now, will have 29.2 crore people by 2050. However, Sri Lanka would witness a negative growth during this period. Its present population of 1.94 crore would come down to 1.87 crore then, it said.
Bangladesh's population in 2007 was 14.71 crore.
However, the country's total fertility rate has decreased to 2.81 in 2008 compared to 2.98 in 2007,the report said adding that during the period the per capita gross national income (GNI) has also dropped to USD 1,230 from USD 2,090.
The total fertility rate in India is 2.78 per cent while it is 1.73 in China, the report said.
Bangladesh's GNI lies far below other countries of the subcontinent like India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka where the per capita income is USD 4,000, USD 2,410 and USD 3,730 respectively and slightly better than Nepal's USD 1,010.
