Despite the Covid-19 pandemic, the average life expectancy in the country has increased to 72.8 years in 2020, says the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) new report.
The report titled ‘SVRS 2020’ prepared by the BBS informed the average life expectancy in the country for women is 74.5 years and for men it's 71.2 years.
In 2019, the average life expectancy in the country was 72.6 years. It extended by 73 days in 2020, the report added.
Planning Minister MA Mannan unveiled the report on Monday under a project titled “Monitoring the Situation of Vital Statistics of Bangladesh” at a programme held at the Statistics Building in the city.
The Planning Minister said, "Before Independence, I was scared when I heard about the seven crore population. It has now increased to 16.82 crores. But now there is a hope as food production has increased. We have achieved success in other sectors as well."
"Our average life expectancy is increasing gradually. The average life expectancy in Japan is 80 years. We will catch up them quickly," added the minister.
Project Director AKM Ashraful Haque presented the results of the survey.
BBS Director General Tajul Islam said that the data was taken every month from 212 samples across the country.
Currently, the global average life expectancy is 73.2 years. It is 75.6 years for women while the average life expectancy for men is 70.8 years.
The use of birth control methods has not increased in the last five years, the report said.
In the new sample area, the rate is 63.9 percent. In urban areas, 64.70 percent of women use birth control methods.
On the other hand, 63.1 percent women in rural areas use this method.
However, the use of modern methods of birth control has increased.
According to the project director, now the medical system has been developed. People can easily get treatment.
Moreover, food intake has increased than before. Comparative progress was achieved in nutrition. People's awareness has been increased. As part of its move, the average life expectancy has also increased.