Demographics of Cambodia

This article is about the demographic features of the population of Cambodia, including population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population.

Between 1874 and 1921, the total population of Cambodia increased from about 946,000 to 2.4 million. By 1950 it had increased to between 3,710,107 and 4,073,967, and in 1962 it had reached 5.7 million. From the 1960s until 1975, the population of Cambodia increased by about 2.2 % yearly, the lowest increase in Southeast Asia. By 1975 when the Khmer Rouge took power, it was estimated at 7.3 million. Of this total an estimated one to two million reportedly died between 1975 and 1978. In 1981, the PRK gave the official population figure as nearly 6.7 million, although approximately 6.3 million to 6.4 million is probably more accurate. The average annual rate of population growth from 1978 to 1985 was 2.3% (see table 2, Appendix A). In 1959, Life expectancy at birth was 44.2 years for males and 43.3 years for females. By 1970, life expectancy had increased by about 2.5 years since 1945. The greater longevity for females apparently reflected improved health practices during maternity and childbirth.

In 1959, about 45% of the population was under 15 years of age. By 1962, this had increased slightly to 46 %. In 1962, an estimated 52 % of the population was between 15 and 64 years of age, while 2% were older than 65. The percentage of males and females in the three groups was almost the same.

Vital statistics

Births and deaths ^[1]

Period	Live births per year	Deaths per year	Natural change per year	CBR*	CDR*	NC*	TFR*	IMR*
1950-1955	208 000	109 000	99 000	45.4	23.8	21.6	6.29	165.1
1955-1960	232 000	113 000	119 000	45.2	22.1	23.1	6.29	152.0
1960-1965	260 000	118 000	142 000	44.9	20.4	24.5	6.29	139.5
1965-1970	287 000	127 000	160 000	43.9	19.4	24.5	6.22	130.0
1970-1975	280 000	158 000	122 000	39.9	22.5	17.4	5.54	180.9
1975-1980	227 000	272 000	- 45 000	33.4	40.0	-6.6	4.70	263.2
1980-1985	410 000	127 000	283 000	56.9	17.7	39.2	7.00	134.0
1985-1990	407 000	115 000	292 000	46.7	13.2	33.5	6.00	97.9
1990-1995	417 000	121 000	296 000	40.3	11.3	29.0	5.44	90.0
1995-2000	358 000	121 000	237 000	30.3	10.2	20.1	4.32	83.3
2000-2005	323 000	117 000	206 000	25.1	9.1	16.0	3.41	72.9
2005-2010	321 000	113 000	207 000	23.3	8.3	15.0	2.80	62.4

• CBR = crude birth rate (per 1000); CDR = crude death rate (per 1000); NC = natural change (per 1000); IMR = infant mortality rate per 1000 births; TFR = total fertility rate (number of children per woman)

CIA World Factbook demographic statistics

The following demographic statistics are from the CIA World Factbook, unless otherwise indicated.

Population

14,701,717

Note: estimates for this country take into account the effects of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result in lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality and death rates, lower population growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected (2011 est.)

Year	Population (July est.)	Growth rate (est.)
2011	14,701,717	+1.72%
2010	14,453,680	−0.28%
2009	14,494,293	+1.77%
2008	14,241,640	+1.76%
2007	13,995,904	+0.82%
2006	13,881,427	+1.80%
2005	13,636,398	+0.22%
2004	13,124,764	+3.67%

Population growth rate

• 1.698% (2011 est.)
• 1.71% (2010 est.)
• 1.77% (2009 est.)
• 1.75% (2008 est)

Age structure

Year	0–14 years: (male)	0–14 years: (female)	0–14 years: (% total)	15–64 years (male):	15–64 years (female):	15–64 years (% total):	65 years & over (male):	65 years & over (female):	65 years & over (% total):
2011	2,375,155	2,356,305	32.2%	4,523,030	4,893,761	64.1%	208,473	344,993	3.8%
2010	2,388,922	2,336,439	32.6%	4,498,568	4,743,677	63.8%	197,649	329,038	3.6%

Sex ratio

At birth: 1.045 male(s)/female

Under 15 years: 1.02 male(s)/female

15-64 years: 0.95 male(s)/female

65 years and over: 0.6 male(s)/female

Total population: 0.96 male(s)/female (2011 est.)

Life expectancy at birth

Total population: 62.67 years

Male: 60.31 years

Female: 65.13 years (2011 est.)

HIV/AIDS

HIV/AIDS — adult prevalence rate

0.5% (2011 est.)

HIV/AIDS — people living with HIV/AIDS

63,000 (2009 est.)

75,000 (2007 est.)

HIV/AIDS — deaths

1,000 (2011 est.)

3,100 (2009 est.)

6,900 (2007 est.)

Nationality

Noun: Cambodian(s) or Khmer(s)

Adjective: Cambodian or Khmer

Urbanization

Urban population: 24% of total population (2010 est.)

Rate of urbanization: 4.6% rate of annual change (2005-10 est.)

Ethnic groups

Khmer 90%, Vietnamese 5%, Chinese 1%, other 4%.^[2]

Religions

Buddhism: 95%, Islam: 1.6%, Christianity: 0.2%, Others: 3.2%

Languages

Khmer (official) 95%, English, French^[3]

Other

Vietnamese, Chinese, German, Thai, Russian, Japanese, Korean.^[4]

Note: In recent decades English and Chinese have become the most attracting foreign language in Cambodia with over 70 Chinese schools and 30,000 students and 1,000 teachers.^[5] Other languages spoken in Cambodia are minority languages.

Literacy

Definition: age 15 and over can read and write

Total population: 73.6%

Male: 84.7%

Female: 64.1% (2004 est.)

Education expenditure

1.7% of GDP (2004)

Overseas Population

Countries with notable populations of overseas Cambodians are:

References

 This article incorporates public domain material from the CIA World Factbook document "2008 edition".