The functional literacy rate among Bangladeshi citizens aged seven years and above increased to 77.9 percent in 2023 up from 76.8 percent in 2022, according to a new survey carried out by the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS).

The rate is 80.1 percent among males and 75.8 percent among females.

BBS on Sunday disclosed the data while officially releasing the "Bangladesh Sample Vital Statistics 2023: Key Findings" at BBS headquarters in Agargaon in the city.

The findings were published under the Sample Vital Registration System (SVRS) in Digital Platform project.

State Minister for Planning Md Shahiduzzaman Sarker attended the event as the chief guest while Statistics and Informatics Division Secretary Dr Shahnaj Arefin and Director General (DG) of the Directorate General of Family Planning Shahan Ara Banu spoke on the occasion as special guests.

BBS Director General Mohammad Mijanur Rahman presided over the event while Project Director of the Sample Vital Registration System (SVRS) in Digital Platform project Md Alamgir Hossain presented the key findings of the survey.

As per the SVRS 2023, the total number of population on January 1, 2024 based on Population and Housing Census 2022 was 171.59 million including 87.39 million male and 84.20 million female.

While analyzing the population by broad age-groups in years, it was found that in 2023, some 10.22 percent of population belonged to 0-4 years group, 18.56 percent of population belonged to 5-14 years group, 18.67 percent of population belonged to 15-24 years group, 22.28 percent of population belonged to 25-39 years group, 11.87 percent of population belonged to 40-49 years group, 8.93 percent of population
belonged to 50-59 years group, 3.33 percent of population belonged to 60-64 years group while 6.14 percent of population belonged to 65+ years group.

The survey also said that the life expectancy at birth in 2023 is statistically unchanged at72.3 years.

The findings also revealed that the rate of natural increase of population in 2023 decreased to 1.33 percent down from 1.40 percent in 2022 while the sex ratio of male was 96.3 percent against females in 2023.

The density of population also increased to 1,171 for per square kilometer in 2023.

The crude birth rate (per 1,000 population) in 2023 increased to 19.4 down from 19.8 in 2022 while the normal types of delivery in 2023 was 49.3 percent against C-Section of 50.7 percent.

The SVRS 2023 findings also highlighted that the crude death rate (per 1000 population) has slightly increased to 6.1 in 2023 up from 5.8 in 2022 while the infant mortality rate (per 1000 live births) also increased to 33 in 2023 up from 25 in 2022.

The maternal mortality ratio (per 100000 live births) declined to 136 in 2023 down from 153 in 2022.

The SVRS 2023 showed that the proportion of individuals who own a mobile telephone (15 years+) increased to 74.2 percent in 2023 up from 73.8 percent in 2022.

It also said that the proportion of individuals using the internet (15 years +) rose to 50.1 percent in 2023 up from 45.5 percent in 2022.

Speaking on the occasion, Shahiduzzaman Sarker said that after the implementation of Digital Bangladesh under the leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, the country is now moving towards to build Smart Bangladesh.

Despite limited manpower and constraints, he said, BBS continues to demonstrate excellence in its work.

BBS has been successfully fulfilling its responsibility by preparing reliable data and statistics to prepare and implement sound plans for national development such as Five Year Plan, Vision 2041, Delta Plan etc, he added.

Shahnaj Arefin informed that the BBS has been working to increase the coverage of SVRS alongside on how to incorporate more data.