Bangladesh isn’t doing enough to cash in on its demographic dividend

February 27, 2024

DHAKA – Bangladesh has a population of around 180 million. Over a quarter of the population (around 50 million) is aged 15-29 years. Given this, the question arises whether Bangladesh is positioned to reap the benefits of the “demographic dividend” that is projected to continue until around 2040.

Demographic dividend refers to economic growth resulting from a change in the age structure of a country’s population, typically brought on by a decline in birth and death rates. As a result, there is an increase in the working-age population, which boosts per capita income, given, however, that certain conditions are met.

The term “demographic dividend” is often misunderstood in assuming that its benefits are imminent and within grasp. However, that is not so, because the “necessary condition” must be satisfied to reap its benefits, which is the increase in the size of the working-age population resulting from a change in the population’s age structure—i.e., quantity, which Bangladesh appears to satisfy. There is, however, a catch here. With half of females aged 20-24 years getting married before 18 years (the legal age of marriage), a very large number of girls in Bangladesh, who should otherwise be studying and later joining the workforce, are not available for work, at least for a considerable period of their reproductive lives. Furthermore, about 27 percent of the country’s total youth population belongs to the “Not in Employment, Education, and Training” (NEET) group, with a pronounced gender disparity—66 percent females and 34 percent males.

There are two “sufficient conditions” that must additionally be satisfied. The first relates to the quality of the working-age population (measured in terms of