A Bangladeshi woman had on average 2.14 children in 2024, down from 6.83 in 1971 and 4.51 in 1990. The rate was 3.28 in 2000 and 2.38 in 2010. Among South Asian neighbours, India (1.96), Nepal (1.96) and Sri Lanka (1.95) are slightly lower in 2024, while Pakistan (3.55) is far higher.
2.38 → 2.14
Births per woman, 2010 and 2024: a fall of 0.24 in 14 years, against 0.90 in the 10 years before 2010.
The long fall is one of the largest demographic shifts in the region. The pace changed after about 2010: the rate was 2.23 in 2015 and 2.17 in 2020, and it has been between 2.14 and 2.18 since 2019. The data show the plateau, but not its causes.
For policy, a rate near 2.1 is commonly treated as the replacement level, below which a population eventually stops growing once the large cohorts of young people have passed through the childbearing years. Planning for schools, maternal health services and, later, an older population will depend on whether the rate stays flat or resumes falling, as it did in Nepal (2.54 in 2010, 1.96 in 2024).
One caveat: these are modelled estimates from the UN Population Division, not a count of births in each year, and they can be revised when new surveys or censuses are released.
Source: UN Population Division, World Population Prospects, via World Bank WDI (SP.DYN.TFRT.IN), 1960–2024. Peer-country figures are from the same indicator, 2024.