The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) study found that the proportion of population living in the urban areas of Bangladesh was only 9% in 1974 but the figure increased to 28% in 2011.
According to United Nations (UN) estimates, in 1960, Dhaka had only one tenth of Kolkata's population, and by 1980 just over one third, but remarkably it had passed Kolkata by the year 2005 and was almost three million ahead by 2015.
The study “Urbanisation and Migration in Bangladesh” was jointly presented by Prof Gavin Jones of Australian National University of Canberra and Murdoch University of Perth, and Prof AQM Mahbub of Department of Geography and Environment, Dhaka University.
It was presented at a programme jointly organised by UNFPA and General Economics Division (GED) of the Planning Commission in Sher-e-Bangla Nagar, Dhaka.
Argentina Matavel Piccin, UNFPA representative, gave the introductory remarks at the programme while Naquib Bin Mahbub, chief of GED of Planning Commission, gave the welcome address.
According to the study, Bangladesh is the most densely populated country on earth. The overall density for the country was 976 persons per square kilometre and the national urban density was 3,785 persons per square kilometre in 2011.
The national population density is higher than that of many cities in western countries. Dhaka Mega city exhibits the highest density of 10,337 persons in per square kilometre.
In the study, UN projections show a slight decline in Bangladesh’s rural population setting in after 2015, a decline which picks up after 2020, resulting in a fall of 15.5 million in the rural population between 2020 and 2050.
The entire increase in Bangladesh’s population (which could amount to some 52 million over the 30-year period between 2016 and 2046) will probably have to be accommodated in urban areas.
The study also pointed out that large cities of Bangladesh now experience more female migration than those of the male. In the age group of 10 to 29 years, for every 100 male migrants, there are 167 women migrants in Dhaka while 166 female migrants in Chittagong.
Using unadjusted 2011 census figures for Dhaka, Chittagong, Khulna and Rajshahi, cities of more than 1 million people make up 28.5% of Bangladesh’s urban population, while 16.2% live in cities of 200,000 to one million, 10.9% in cites in the 100,000 to 200,000 population range, and 44.4% in towns of less than 100,000 population.
The level of primacy of Dhaka Megacity has been increasing over time. In the 1991 Census, 31% of the country’s urban population lived there, but this had climbed to 34% in the 2011 Census (using the adjusted urban figures).
While analysing the study findings, Dr Nurul Islam Nazem, professor of Department of Geography and Environment of Dhaka University, said it was observed that though high officials of different organisations live in other districts of Bangaldesh, their families live in Dhaka to give their children a better education.
If all kinds of facilities found in Dhaka were made available in other cities, then people would start living there, he said.
Prof Nurul also suggested that a change was needed in the thinking of policy makers or ministers as they talk about development of slums in Dhaka and try to remove it without thinking of the consequences.
“If we want a productive and liveable city then we need to decentralise some employment sectors and facilities from Dhaka,” he added.
Addressing the program as chief guest, Prof Dr Shamsul Alam, senior secretary of GED, said they would definitely analyse the study before taking the 15-year action plan for SDG.
Tuesday, July 21, 2026
