Cambodia People - 2023
SOURCE: 2023 CIA WORLD FACTBOOK
Population
16,891,245 (2023 est.)
Nationality
noun: Cambodian(s)
adjective: Cambodian
Ethnic groups
Khmer 95.4%, Cham 2.4%, Chinese 1.5%, other 0.7% (2019-20 est.)
Languages
Khmer (official) 95.8%, minority languages 2.9%, Chinese 0.6%, Vietnamese 0.5%, other 0.2% (2019 est.)
major-language sample(s):
សៀវភៅហេតុការណនៅលើពិភពលោក។ ទីតាំងពត៏មានមូលដានគ្រឹះយាងសំខាន់។. (Khmer)
The World Factbook, the indispensable source for basic information.
Religions
Buddhist (official) 97.1%, Muslim 2%, Christian 0.3%, other 0.5% (2019 est.)
Demographic profile
Cambodia is a predominantly rural country with among the most ethnically and religiously homogenous populations in Southeast Asia: more than 95% of its inhabitants are Khmer and more than 95% are Buddhist. The population’s size and age structure shrank and then rebounded during the 20th century as a result of conflict and mass death. During the Khmer Rouge regime between 1975 and 1979 as many as 1.5 to 2 million people are estimated to have been killed or died as a result of starvation, disease, or overwork – a loss of about 25% of the population. At the same time, emigration was high, and the fertility rate sharply declined. In the 1980s, after the overthrow of the Khmer Rouge, fertility nearly doubled and reached pre-Khmer Rouge levels of close to 7 children per woman, reflecting in part higher infant survival rates. The baby boom was followed by a sustained fertility decline starting in the early 1990s, eventually decreasing from 3.8 in 2000 to 2.9 in 2010, although the rate varied by income, education, and rural versus urban location. Despite continuing fertility reduction, Cambodia still has a youthful population that is likely to maintain population growth through population momentum. Improvements have also been made in mortality, life expectancy, and contraceptive prevalence, although reducing malnutrition among children remains stalled. Differences in health indicators are pronounced between urban and rural areas, which experience greater poverty.
Cambodia is predominantly a country of migration, driven by the search for work, education, or marriage. Internal migration is more prevalent than international migration, with rural to urban migration being the most common, followed by rural to rural migration. Urban migration focuses on the pursuit of unskilled or semi-skilled jobs in Phnom Penh, with men working mainly in the construction industry and women working in garment factories. Most Cambodians who migrate abroad do so illegally using brokers because it is cheaper and faster than through formal channels, but doing so puts them at risk of being trafficked for forced labor or sexual exploitation. Young Cambodian men and women migrate short distances across the Thai border using temporary passes to work in agriculture, while others migrate long distances primarily into Thailand and Malaysia for work in agriculture, fishing, construction, manufacturing, and domestic service. Cambodia was a refugee sending country in the 1970s and 1980s as a result of the brutality of the Khmer Rouge regime, its ousting by the Vietnamese invasion, and the resultant civil war. Tens of thousands of Cambodians fled to Thailand; more than 100,000 were resettled in the US in the 1980s. Cambodia signed a multi-million dollar agreement with Australia in 2014 to voluntarily resettle refugees seeking shelter in Australia. However, the deal has proven to be a failure because of poor conditions and a lack of support services for the few refugees willing to accept the offer.
Age structure
0-14 years: 29.47% (male 2,518,910/female 2,459,235)
15-64 years: 65.39% (male 5,362,180/female 5,682,247)
65 years and over: 5.14% (2023 est.) (male 308,931/female 559,742)
Dependency ratios
total dependency ratio: 53.4
youth dependency ratio: 45
elderly dependency ratio: 8.5
potential support ratio: 11.8 (2021 est.)
Median age
total: 26.4 years
male: 25.6 years
female: 27.2 years (2020 est.)
Population growth rate
1.04% (2023 est.)
Birth rate
18.75 births/1,000 population (2023 est.)
Death rate
5.7 deaths/1,000 population (2023 est.)
Net migration rate
-2.67 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2023 est.)
Population distribution
population concentrated in the southeast, particularly in and around the capital of Phnom Penh; further distribution is linked closely to the Tonle Sap and Mekong Rivers
Urbanization
urban population: 25.6% of total population (2023)
rate of urbanization: 3.06% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)
Major urban areas - population
2.281 million PHNOM PENH (capital) (2023)
Sex ratio
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
0-14 years: 1.02 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.94 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.55 male(s)/female
total population: 0.94 male(s)/female (2023 est.)
Mother's mean age at first birth
22.4 years (2014 est.)
note: data represents median age at first birth among women 25-49
Maternal mortality ratio
218 deaths/100,000 live births (2020 est.)
Infant mortality rate
total: 28.75 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 32.22 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 25.12 deaths/1,000 live births (2023 est.)
Life expectancy at birth
total population: 71.03 years
male: 69.17 years
female: 72.97 years (2023 est.)
Total fertility rate
2.2 children born/woman (2023 est.)
Gross reproduction rate
1.08 (2023 est.)
Contraceptive prevalence rate
56.3% (2014)
Drinking water source
improved: urban: 99.3% of population
rural: 80.6% of population
total: 85.1% of population
unimproved: urban: 0.7% of population
rural: 19.4% of population
total: 14.9% of population (2020 est.)
Current health expenditure
7.5% of GDP (2020)
Physicians density
0.19 physicians/1,000 population (2014)
Hospital bed density
1.9 beds/1,000 population (2016)
Sanitation facility access
improved: urban: 100% of population
rural: 69.3% of population
total: 76.8% of population
unimproved: urban: 0% of population
rural: 30.7% of population
total: 23.2% of population (2020 est.)
Major infectious diseases
degree of risk: very high (2023)
food or waterborne diseases: bacterial diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever
vectorborne diseases: dengue fever, Japanese encephalitis, and malaria
Obesity - adult prevalence rate
3.9% (2016)
Alcohol consumption per capita
total: 4.56 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
beer: 4.12 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
wine: 0.03 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
spirits: 0.41 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
other alcohols: 0 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
Tobacco use
total: 21.1% (2020 est.)
male: 36.1% (2020 est.)
female: 6% (2020 est.)
Children under the age of 5 years underweight
24.1% (2014)
Currently married women (ages 15-49)
66.4% (2023 est.)
Education expenditures
3.1% of GDP (2020 est.)
Literacy
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 83.9%
male: 88.4%
female: 79.8% (2021)
Youth unemployment rate (ages 15-24)
total: 1.8%
male: 1.6%
female: 2.1% (2021 est.)
NOTE: The information regarding Cambodia on this page is re-published from the 2023 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency and other sources. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Cambodia 2023 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Cambodia 2023 should be addressed to the CIA or the source cited on each page.
This page was last modified 06 Dec 23, Copyright © 2023 ITA all rights reserved.