Bangladesh

AsiaCapital city: DhakaCapital metro: DhakaPrime Minister: Tarique Rahman
2026 population
169.8M
Rank #8 globally
Area
148k km² (57k sq mi)
Metros tracked
13
46% of population in metros
Composite score
41.5
Rank #53 globally

population: 2022 census (14 Jun 2022) · indicators as of 5 Sep 2026 · 13 metros tracked

🗺️ Geography13 metros

Bangladesh metro footprint, shaded by composite tier.

Loading map…
13 polygons

Select a metro for its rank and a link to its page. Boundaries derived from Overture Maps administrative divisions; metros without source coverage are omitted.

🏙️ 13 tracked metros
13 metros
#156Dhaka★ Capital▲ Largest
Dhaka · 26.5M · Regional Hub
19.0
Chittagong · 9.2M · Established Metro
5.7
#736Sylhet
Sylhet · 3.9M · Emerging Metro
2.8
Chittagong · 6.2M · Emerging Metro
2.1
Mymensingh · 5.9M · Emerging Metro
2.0
#1069Barisal
Barisal · 2.6M · Emerging Metro
1.5
Chittagong · 3.6M · Emerging Metro
1.5
#1138Tangail
Dhaka · 4.0M · Emerging Metro
1.3
#1161Rangpur
Rangpur · 3.2M · Emerging Metro
1.3
#1212Bogra
Rajshahi · 3.7M · Emerging Metro
1.2
Rajshahi · 2.9M · Emerging Metro
1.2
#1358Jessore
Khulna · 3.1M · Emerging Metro
1.0
🗂️ Divisions

8 entries listed under Bangladesh. Select any to see its metros and footprint.

8 total
📋 At a glance
Official language
Bangla
Government
Westminster system
Legislature
Jatiya Sangsad
Demonym
Bangladeshi
Time zones
Bangladesh Standard Time, UTC+06:00
Driving side
Left
Calling code
+880
Internet TLD
.bd, .বাংলা
ISO 3166
BD
Established
1971
Highest point
Mowdok tiang (1,054 m (3,458 ft))
National anthem
Amar Sonar Bangla

Facts via Wikidata.

🗣️ Languages of Bangladesh

Bengali first; 2 languages share the country; 1 official.

LanguageShareStatus
Bengali98%Official
English18%None
Central-Eastern Kamta6.5%None
Sylheti5%None
Rohingya0.5%None
Chakma0.2%None

Shares count first and second language, so they overlap and can add past 100%.

English reach
18%
Tier 3 country
Effective languages
1.0
Official-language gap
2%
Bengali is spoken by 98%

Bangladesh on the languages board · Language power

📰 In the news4 stories
Every story in the latest digest →
💹 Economy and developmentLower middle income
Human Dev. Index
#129 / 191
0.685
UNDP · 2023
GDP
#37 / 193
$456.3B
World Bank · 2025
GDP per capita
#148 / 193
$2.6k
World Bank · 2025
GDP/capita (PPP)
#128 / 190
$10.2k
World Bank · 2025
GNI/capita (Atlas)
#141 / 192
$2.8k
World Bank · 2025
Life expectancy
#87 / 194
74.9 yrs
World Bank · 2024
Median age
25.3 yrs
UN WPP · 2023
Urban population
#165 / 194
33%
World Bank · 2025
Pop. growth
1.2%
World Bank · 2025
Pop. density
★ #6 / 193
1,319/km² (3,417/mi²)
World Bank · 2023
Foreign-born
#137 / 193
1.7%
World Bank · 2024
Rule of law
#123 / 175
0.31
V-Dem · 2025
Gini index
#41 / 166
30.9
World Bank · 2022
Internet users
#143 / 193
53%
World Bank · 2024
Inflation
#158 / 185
8.8%
World Bank · 2025
CO₂ per capita
#43 / 192
0.6 t
Global Carbon Budget · 2024
Renewable electricity
#171 / 186
2%
Ember · 2025

Ranks are among sovereign countries with data; ★ marks a top-5% finish. Sources: World Bank Open Data and Our World in Data (UNDP, UN WPP, V-Dem, Global Carbon Budget, Ember, Energy Institute; CC BY 4.0). Each card credits its originating body. Renewable share is of electricity generation, not of primary energy. Each figure is the most recent year available.

Alliances & Organisations4 full memberships

Political & Economic

Regional

Subregional

Full memberDashed border = Candidate / ApplicantItalic = Dialogue / Observer

🏛️ Leadership History19 leaders · click to expand

is an editorial flag: associated with atrocities against civilians, systemic subversion of the constitutional order, or a criminal conviction (political persecutions and annulled convictions excluded). It is a curated list, not a measurement, so a name without one has not been cleared of anything. Hover a badge for the reason on file.

Tarique Rahman✦ Current
Prime Minister · BNP · 2026–present
2026–Present
Muhammad Yunus
Chief Adviser · Interim govt · 2024–2026 (interim government)
2024–2026
Sheikh Hasina
Prime Minister · Awami League · 15y 7m 20d
2009–2024
Fakhruddin Ahmed
Chief Adviser (Caretaker) · 2y
2007–2009
Khaleda Zia
Prime Minister · BNP · 5y 15d
2001–2006
Sheikh Hasina
Prime Minister · Awami League · 5y 18d
1996–2001
Khaleda Zia
Prime Minister · BNP · 5y 7d
1991–1996
Shahabuddin Ahmed
Chief Justice / Acting President · 3m
1990–1991
Kazi Zafar Ahmed
Prime Minister · JP · 1y 4m
1989–1990
Moudud Ahmed
Prime Minister · JP · 1y 4m
1988–1989
Mizanur Rahman Chowdhury
Prime Minister · JP · 1y 8m
1986–1988
Hussain Muhammad Ershad
President / CMLA · JP · 8y 9m
1982–1990
📈 Power over timeThe Power Atlas →
Today
Minor#49 · 0.3%
Latent vs recognised
Under-recognised: more mass than standing
3%5%8%10%2000
Power (headline share)Latent (material mass)Recognised (standing)

The power line is the headline share of world power, running from the state’s first ranked year (benchmark estimates with wide error bars before 1816). Latent power is material mass a state could mobilise (population, manpower, heavy industry). Recognised power is what the system actually treats it as (military spending, productive economy, reach, and status such as a Security Council seat or nuclear arsenal). When latent runs above recognised, a power is rising or under-rated; when recognised runs higher, it is punching above its weight or coasting on prestige. Material sub-indices run 1816 through 2016.

👥 Population over time
Population 2023
171m
#8 in the world
Since 1800
8.94×
from 19.2m
Peak
2023
at its largest now
Share of world
2.1%
2.0% in 1800
44.5m88.9m133m178m18001850190019502000

Our World in Data population (CC BY): UN WPP 2024 from 1950, Gapminder v7 1800-1949, HYDE 3.3 earlier; today's borders. Figures above are as of 2023, the last year that is estimated rather than forecast. The dashed tail to 2026 is a UN WPP medium-variant projection. It is drawn because the line should reach the present, and drawn differently because it has not happened yet: no rank, peak or share on this page uses it. Before 1950 the series is reconstruction rather than contemporaneous statistics, which is worth knowing when a country’s peak sits back there. The current population shown elsewhere on this page comes from the workbook and is unchanged by this. Note that people and share of world can move in opposite directions. A country can grow steadily and still become a smaller part of humanity, which is what happened to almost every rich country after 1960.

👥 To 2100

The UN’s probabilistic projection for Bangladesh: the median with its 80% and 95% bands, the UN’s own high, low and zero-migration scenarios beside it. Not this site’s model; the site reads it and says what it implies.

Peak on the median
2071
226m on the UN median
2050
215m
95% band 190m to 248m
2100
209m
95% band 123m to 350m
2100 against 2025
1.19×
median falling from 2072
Deaths outnumber births
from 2077
on the UN medium path; migration decides the rest
91.8m184m275m367m1950197520002025205020752100
estimateUN median80% and 95% bandshigh and low fertilityzero migration

What drives it

Births, deaths and net migration on the UN medium path, with fertility, life expectancy and median age, every decade from 1950.

1950
1.9m born · 1.1m died · +8k net migration
TFR 6.37 · life expectancy 37.4 · median age 18.3
1960
2.5m born · 1.1m died · +14k net migration
TFR 6.74 · life expectancy 44.0 · median age 17.9
1970
3.3m born · 1.5m died · -74k net migration
TFR 6.84 · life expectancy 42.7 · median age 16.8
1980
4.0m born · 1.4m died · -516k net migration
TFR 6.33 · life expectancy 52.3 · median age 16.5
1990
3.9m born · 1.3m died · -404k net migration
TFR 4.51 · life expectancy 55.8 · median age 17.4
2000
4.0m born · 1.1m died · -512k net migration
TFR 3.28 · life expectancy 62.0 · median age 19.7
2010
3.3m born · 921k died · -1.1m net migration
TFR 2.38 · life expectancy 68.0 · median age 21.9
2020
3.4m born · 1.0m died · -1.0m net migration
TFR 2.17 · life expectancy 71.4 · median age 24.6

Every country to 2100 →

Source: United Nations, DESA, Population Division. World Population Prospects 2024. Licensed under CC BY 3.0 IGO. Estimates to 2023; projections 2024 to 2100, medium variant and probabilistic intervals. The UN revises every two years; this is the WPP 2024 revision.

🏆 National Teams

Bangladesh on the international stage. Select a card for the full record.

🏟️ League Hubs

Domestic league portals that operate in Bangladesh: 1 league.