Life expectancy fell by six months in 2021: BBS survey

The average life expectancy in Bangladesh fell by six months to 72.3 years in 2021 from 72.8 in the previous year, according to the latest Bangladesh Sample Vital Statistics revealed Monday.

The Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS), which conducts the survey, however, said the fall is insignificant as the year 2021 was marred by the spread of Covid-19 when the crude mortality and mortality rate for neonatal increased.

The life expectancy for males was 70.6 years in 2021, down from 71.2 years in 2020. For females, the expectancy also fell to 74.1 years from 74.5 years. Yet, women lived an average of 3.5 years longer than men in 2021, according to the survey. 

BBS Deputy Director Alamgir Hossen presented the survey report at an event at its office, while Planning Minister MA Mannan, State Minister for Planning Shamsul Alam, BBS Director General Matiar Rahman, and Statistics Secretary Shahnaz Arefin spoke, among others.

MA Mannan termed the survey as essential for socio-economic planning and development and said that the survey will be conducted under revenue budget, instead of project funding, in future.

Shamsul Alam said the survey is important as it provides information on 26 indicators of SDGs. "The population growth rate is high in the country, which is alarming. The government should take necessary measures to address it."

On pure water, he noted that arsenic was found in tube well water in 61 districts of the country.

According to the latest survey, the crude death rate rose from 5.1 in 2020 to 5.7 years in 2021. The neonatal mortality rate also increased to 16 for each 1,000 live birth, which was 15 in 2020.

Alamgir Hossen said the reasons for mortality and life expectancy rates could possibly be explained by Covid-19 factors. Quoting the data of the health directorate, he added that Covid-19 claimed 20,513 lives in 2021 and 7,559 in 2020.

The survey was conducted with data collected from more than three lakh households in over 2000 sample survey areas across the country, he noted and added that data collection ended in December 2021.

Adult literacy drops

Although the literacy rate of people aged seven years and above has increased slightly, the adult literacy rate has dropped in the country, revealed the report.

The report said the literacy rate among 15 years of age and older has decreased by 1.5 percentage points to 74.1% in 2021. The rate was 75.6% a year ago. 

Alamgir Hossain, also the director of the Sample Vital Registration System project, explained that the adult literacy rate may have decreased due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The literacy rate for those aged seven and over rose by 1.2 percentage points to 76.4% in 2021, according to the report.

Discrepancies with other surveys  

Although the literacy rate for seven-year-olds and above was shown as 76.4% in 2021 in the latest Bangladesh Sample Vital Statistics, it has been 74% in another survey titled "Household Income Expenditure Survey", which the BBS released last week.

Discrepancies can also be found in some other data, if compared to other surveys of the same agency.

When asked about the matter, Statistics Joint Secretary Dipankar Roy explained that data from all surveys may not match due to differences in sample size and time.