The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) has welcomed the preliminary findings of the 2025 Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS), calling the data an essential snapshot of women’s and children’s wellbeing in Bangladesh — while warning that several troubling trends demand urgent policy attention.
Released on Wednesday, the survey conducted by the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics with UNICEF’s technical support covers 172 indicators, including 27 linked to the Sustainable Development Goals. UNFPA said recent gains in maternal and newborn health reflect sustained government commitment and nearly five decades of collaboration, including support for midwifery education, strengthening health systems, and improving the quality of care for mothers and infants.
According to the data, infant mortality has fallen from 34 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2019 to 29 in 2025. Facility-based deliveries have risen to 71%, while 77% of births are now attended by skilled personnel — both up from the previous MICS round.
But UNFPA cautioned that progress remains uneven. Child marriage, although declining overall, continues to be widespread. The proportion of women aged 20–24 married before 18 dropped from 51.4% to 47.2%, yet the percentage of girls aged 15–19 who are currently married has risen sharply from 32.9% to 38.9%. UNFPA estimates that at the current pace, eliminating child marriage could take more than 200 years — a timeline starkly at odds with Bangladesh’s gender equality goals. This trend is linked to a rise in adolescent birth rates, which climbed from 83 to 92 per 1,000 girls aged 15–19.
The findings also point to shifts in fertility patterns, with total fertility experiencing a slight uptick. UNFPA attributes this partly to disruptions in family planning access during the Covid-19 pandemic and declining contraceptive use, now at 58.2%. While unmet need for family planning has adjusted, access to modern contraception remains uneven.
The government has recently introduced two major policy frameworks — the National Family Planning Strategy 2025–2030 and the National Population Policy 2025 — both developed with UNFPA’s technical support. These strategies emphasise a rights-based approach, moving away from population-control narratives and focusing instead on expanding access to family planning, strengthening human capital, and improving wellbeing across the life cycle.
One of the most alarming trends highlighted by the survey is the surge in Caesarean section deliveries, rising from 36% in 2019 to 51.8%. UNFPA warns that most C-sections are taking place in inadequately regulated private facilities, driving unnecessary surgeries, financial burdens for poor households, and risks of unsafe procedures — including iatrogenic fistula. Persistent shortages of trained maternal health professionals at subdistrict level and gaps in emergency obstetric services in public facilities further compound these risks.
Concerns also remain around the frequency and quality of antenatal, delivery, and postnatal care. Indicators related to eclampsia, haemorrhage, prolonged labour, and breastfeeding initiation point to systemic weaknesses. UNFPA stressed the urgency of rolling out labour room protocols, postpartum haemorrhage and eclampsia action plans, and expanding the scope of midwifery services to include assisted vaginal delivery.
The agency said the new findings underscore the need for uninterrupted contraceptive supplies, accelerated deployment of midwives, prevention of adolescent pregnancy, and stronger community engagement to change harmful norms around child marriage and gender-based violence. Civil society, youth, academia, and the media must also play roles in shifting social behaviour and supporting girls to remain in school.
“As Bangladesh accelerates toward upper-middle-income status by 2031 and strives to achieve the SDGs, there is no pathway to success without investing in the health, rights, and education of women and girls,” said Catherine Breen Kamkong, UNFPA Representative in Bangladesh.
UNFPA reaffirmed its commitment to supporting the government in strengthening maternal health services, promoting rights-based family planning, preventing violence, and expanding opportunities for women and young people to thrive.
