Cambodia Population

Quick facts about the population of Cambodia

Current population (as of Sunday, May 12, 2024)

17,811,714

Population rank

70 (0.22% of world population)

Total area

181,035 km2 (69,898 mi2)

Population density

98.4 per km2 (254.8 people/mi2)

Sex ratio

0.96 (8,719,176 men to 9,092,610 women)

Median age

24.0 years

Life expectancy

62.7 years (60.3 - men, 65.1 - women)

Literacy

77.2 %

(Population figures are estimates by Countrymeters based on the latest United Nations data)

Cambodia population 2024

During 2024 Cambodia population is projected to increase by 287,398 people and reach 17,995,209 in the beginning of 2025. The natural increase is expected to be positive, as the number of births will exceed the number of deaths by 322,813. If external migration will remain on the previous year level, the population will be declined by 35,416 due to the migration reasons. It means that the number of people who leave Cambodia to settle permanently in another country (emigrants) will prevail over the number of people who move into the country (to which they are not native) in order to settle there as permanent residents (immigrants).

Population change rates in 2024

According to our estimations, daily change rates of Cambodia population in 2024 will be the following:

• 1,190 live births average per day (49.59 in an hour)
• 306 deaths average per day (12.74 in an hour)
• -97 emigrants average per day (-4.04 in an hour)

The population of Cambodia will be increasing by 787 persons daily in 2024.

Demographics of Cambodia 2023

As of 1 January 2024, the population of Cambodia was estimated to be 17,707,811 people. This is an increase of 1.62 % (282,808 people) compared to population of 17,425,003 the year before. In 2023 the natural increase was positive, as the number of births exceeded the number of deaths by 317,658. Due to external migration, the population declined by 34,850. The sex ratio of the total population was 0.959 (959 males per 1,000 females) which is lower than global sex ratio. The global sex ratio in the world was approximately 1,016 males to 1,000 females as of 2023.

Below are the key figures for Cambodia population in 2023:

• 427,435 live births
• 109,778 deaths
• Natural increase: 317,658 people
• Net migration: -34,850 people
• 8,668,279 males as of 31 December 2023
• 9,039,532 females as of 31 December 2023

Cambodia population density

Cambodia population density is 97.8 people per square kilometer (253.3/mi²) as of May 2024. Density of population is calculated as permanently settled population of Cambodia divided by total area of the country. Total area is the sum of land and water areas within international boundaries and coastlines of Cambodia. The total area of Cambodia is 181,035 km² (69,898 mi²) according to the United Nations Statistics Division .

Religion in Cambodia

Religion	Number of followers	Percentage of total population
Buddhism	17,259,551	96.9 %
Islam	356,234	2.0 %
Folk or traditional religions	89,059	0.5 %
Christianity	71,247	0.4 %
Religiously Unaffiliated	35,623	0.2 %

Source: Pew Research Center. The Global Religious Landscape .

Number of followers estimated by Countrymeters (Sunday, May 12 2024).

Cambodia age structure

As of the beginning of 2024 according to our estimates Cambodia had the following population age distribution:

32.2

64.1

3.8

	- percentage of population under 15
	- percentage of population between 15 and 64 years old
	- percentage of population 65+

In absolute figures (estimate):

• 5,698,905 young people under 15 years old ( 2,860,874 males / 2,838,031 females)
• 11,342,207 persons between 15 and 64 years old ( 5,447,808 males / 5,894,399 females)
• 666,699 persons above 64 years old ( 251,097 males / 415,602 females)

We prepared a simplified model of the population distribution pyramid which is broken down into 3 main age groups. The groups are the same as we used above: population under 15, between 15 and 64 and population which is over 65 year old.

65+

15-64

0-14

male

female

Note: The pyramid provided is not corresponding to data given above because the age groups have different number of years.

As we can see the Cambodia population pyramid has an expanding type. This type of pyramid is common for developing countries with high birth and death rates. Relatively short life expectancy, as well as low level of education and poor health care are also describe such kind of population age distribution model.

Source: The estimation data for section "Cambodia age structure" is based on the latest demographic and social statistics by United Nations Statistics Division .

Age dependency ratio

Dependency ratio of population is a ratio of people who are generally not in the labor force (the dependents) to workforce of a country (the productive part of population). The dependent part includes the population under 15 years old and people aged 65 and over. The productive part of population accordingly consists of population between 15 and 64 years.

This ratio shows the pressure on productive population produced by the dependent part of population.

The total dependency ratio of population in Cambodia is 56.1 %.

What does this value mean? It shows that the dependent part of population is more than a half of the working part. It means that the working population (labor force) in Cambodia must provide goods for itself and cover expenditure on children and aged persons (this population is more than a half of working population). The value of more than 50% shows that the pressure on productive population in Cambodia is relatively high.

Child dependency ratio

Child dependency ratio is a ratio of people below working age (under 15) to workforce of a country.

Child dependency ratio in Cambodia is 50.2 %.

Aged dependency ratio

Aged dependency ratio is a ratio of people above working age (65+) to workforce of a country.

Aged dependency ratio in Cambodia is 5.9 %.

Source: The estimation data for section "Cambodia age dependency ratio" is based on the latest demographic and social statistics by United Nations Statistics Division .

Life expectancy

Life expectancy at birth is one of the most important demographic indicator. It shows the number of years a newborn infant would live assuming that birth and death rates will remain at the same level during the whole lifetime.

Total life expectancy (both sexes) at birth for Cambodia is 62.7 years.
This is below the average life expectancy at birth of the global population which is about 71 years (according to Population Division of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations).

Male life expectancy at birth is 60.3 years.
Female life expectancy at birth is 65.1 years.

Literacy of population

According to our estimates 9,264,213 persons or 77.14% of adult population (aged 15 years and above) in Cambodia are able to read and write. Accordingly about 2,744,693 adults are illiterate.

Literacy rate for adult male population is 84.47% (4,813,580 persons). 885,325 are illiterate.
Literacy rate for adult female population is 70.53% (4,450,633 persons). 1,859,368 are illiterate.

Youth literacy rates are 91.11% and 91.87% for males and females accordingly. The overall youth literacy rate is 91.48%. Youth literacy rate definition covers the population between the ages of 15 to 24 years.

Source: The estimation data for section "Cambodia population literacy" is based on the latest data published by UNESCO Institute for Statistics (retrieved March 13, 2016) .