Facts and Figures about Cambodia

Contents

• Population
• Poverty
• Economy
• Development
• Health
• HIV and AIDS
• Education
• Employment
• Women
• The environment
• Tourism
• Human rights
• Religion
• The Christian Church

Population

Cambodia's most recent census, conducted in March 1998, estimated that the country's population was 11.747 million (11.438 million enumerated plus 0.309 million others) [1.1].

The estimated population in 2004 was 13.091 million [1.1]. 48.3% were male and 51.7% female [1.1].

The annual growth rate of population between 1998 and 2004 was 1.81% [1.1].

85% of Cambodians live in rural areas [1.1].

The average household size is 5.1 people [1.1].

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Poverty

35% of Cambodians live below the national poverty line (the poverty line deemed appropriate for a country by its authorities) of $0.45 per day [2.1].

Between 1993 and 2004 the number of people living on less than $0.45 per day fell from 47% to 35% of the population [2.2]. During the same period, per capita consumption of the richest 20% of the population grew by 45%, compared to a growth of 8% for the poorest 20% [2.2].

Rural households account for nearly 90% of the country's poor.

Phnom Penh, the capital city of Cambodia, has 564 slum areas housing 300,000 people, one quarter of the city's population [2.3]. Ten years ago 30,000 people lived in 187 slum areas [2.3].

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Economy

Cambodia's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2005 was $6.2 billion [3.1]. Its GDP based on Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) rate of exchange, which takes into account price differences between countries, was $38.4 billion [3.1]. Its GDP per capita was $440 [3.1] and its GDP (PPP) per capita was $2,727 [3.1].

Foreign investment in Cambodia fell from $4.3 billion in 2006 to $2.7 billion in 2007 [3.2].

In 2003 fewer than 120,000 customers used the services of Cambodia's banks. For every $1 deposited in banks, more than $10 was held informally [3.3].

Agriculture accounts for 31% of Cambodia's gross domestic product and 3% of its exports [3.4].

A survey [3.5] of 1,200 businesses operating in Cambodia indicated that in 2005 the government lost $400 million (75% of potential tax revenue) through tax evasion. An estimated $330 million in 'unofficial fees' was paid to public officials by the private sector in 2005.

Cambodia's foreign currency reserves had exceeded $1 billion by 2007, a nine-fold increase since 1994 [3.6].

In 2006 the number of registered motor vehicles in Cambodia was 139,634, an increase of 25% from the previous year [3.7].

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Development

The Human Development Index (HDI) is a composite measure of longevity, educational attainment and standard of living. The HDI score for Cambodia in 2005 was estimated at 0.598 [4.1]. The country with an HDI rank of 1 (Iceland) is considered the most developed; the country with an HDI rank of 177 (Sierra Leone) is considered the least developed. Cambodia's HDI rank was 131 [4.1].

17% of Cambodian households receive a mains electricity supply [4.2].

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Health

36% of children under 5 years of age are moderately or severely under weight and 37% are under height for their age [5.1].

The infant mortality rate for the five years ending in 2005 was 65 per 1,000 live births [5.1] and the under-5 mortality rate was 83 per 1,000 live births [5.1].

Average life expectancy at birth for a Cambodian man is 55.2 years; for a woman, 60.6 years [5.2].

There are 16 physicians in Cambodia for every 100,000 people [5.2].

There were 898 landmine injuries or fatalities in Cambodia in 2004 [5.3].

1.2% of Cambodians are blind [5.4]. Cambodia has three eye surgeons [5.4].

There are 374 qualified dentists in Cambodia, one for every 30,000 people [5.5]. A six-year-old child has an average of 9.7 teeth that are decayed, missing or filled [5.5].

In Cambodia there are 26 psychiatrists, 40 psychiatric nurses and 165 doctors who have training in basic and primary mental health care [5.6].

70,000 people are infected with tuberculosis each year in Cambodia; in 2004 TB killed 107 people for every 100,000 Cambodians [5.7].

28% of Cambodians smoke tobacco: 54% of men and 6% of women over 20 years old and 11% of children aged 11 to 13. [5.8].

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HIV and AIDS

Diseases related to AIDS have killed about 90,000 people in Cambodia [6.1] and the death toll is expected to reach 236,000 by 2010 [6.1].

The prevalence of HIV infection in Cambodia among people aged 15 to 49 had fallen from a peak of 4% to 1.9% by 2003 [6.2]. About 123,100 people were believed to be infected in 2007, of which about 3,000 were children [6.3].

In 1994 there were 110 new infections per day; in 2002 there were 20 [6.4]. Of these, 30% were infections from mother to child [6.5].

Over 30,000 Cambodian children aged under 15 have lost their parents as a result of AIDS [6.5].

A countrywide survey conducted between 1995 and 2002 found 28.8% of direct female sex workers to be HIV positive [6.6].

Monogamous married women represent 40% of new HIV infections [6.7].

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Education

The adult literacy rate for Cambodian men is 82.1%; that for women is 67.4% [7.1]. However, a study carried out by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) reported that functionally literate people make up only 37% of Cambodia's adult population [7.2].

About 42% of Cambodian women and 21% of men above the age of 15 have never attended school.

About 93% of Cambodian children attend primary school [7.3], but in remote areas enrolment is only 76% [7.3]. There are 1,238 pre-schools, 6,063 primary schools, 486 lower secondary schools and 212 upper secondary schools in Cambodia, staffed by 76,350 teachers and serving 3,433,048 students [7.3]. Approximately 52% of primary schools, 53% of lower secondary schools and 21% of upper secondary schools are without a water supply, and 41% of primary schools, 36% of lower secondary schools and 7.5% of upper secondary schools are without toilets [7.3]. Primary school teachers are paid about $30 a month, lower secondary school teachers about $45 and upper secondary school teachers about $55 [7.3].

11% of children have access to early education services [7.4].

30% of pupils drop out from school between grades 1 and 2 [7.5]. 43% of pupils complete grade 6 and 19% complete grade 9 [7.5]. On average there are 51 pupils per primary school teacher [7.5].

About 8,000 students graduate each year from Cambodia's 47 colleges and universities [7.6].

The National Library of Cambodia contains about 100,000 books, of which 20,000 are books that survived the Khmer Rouge regime [7.7].

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Employment

71% of Cambodia's labour force are involved in agriculture [8.1].

Around two million children aged between five and 17 (about half of all children in that age range) are involved in work [8.2]. 1.5 million of these are aged 14 and under [8.2]. More than two-thirds of working children are employed in agricultural activities, including fishing and work on rubber plantations [8.2].

The labour pool will increase from an estimated 5.6 million people in 2001 to almost 10 million by 2011 [8.3]. To provide employment to new entrants to the labour pool, Cambodia's economy would need to expand by 10% annually, double the growth rate of recent years [8.3].

About 300,000 people are added to Cambodia's labour force each year [8.4], but the country's economic growth generates only between 20,000 and 30,000 new jobs each year [8.5].

Approximately 112,773 soldiers are enlisted in the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces, commanded by 613 generals and 6,654 colonels and majors [8.6].

Unemployment in Cambodia is officially defined by the government as working less than one hour (formally or informally) per week. By this measure, Cambodia has a 0.8% unemployment rate [8.7]. The Economic Institute of Cambodia estimates that 85% of Cambodians hold no formal job [8.7].

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Women

According to NGO reports, women make up 52% of the population, 60% of agricultural workers, 85% of the business work force, 70% of the industrial work force, and 60% of all service sector workers.

On average, Cambodian women receive one third less pay than men with similar education and experience for comparable work.

26% of households are headed by women.

Only 20% of Cambodian women have access to reproductive health services and products [9.1].

Out of 100,000 live births, 440 mothers die [9.2]. It is estimated that 2,000 Cambodian women die each year of childbirth-related causes, and another 200,000 have their health seriously and adversely affected due to pregnancy- and delivery-related complications.

There are 80,000 to 100,000 commercial sex workers in Cambodia [9.3]. 30% are under 18 [9.3].

58% of sex workers claim that they were sold into prostitution [9.4].

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The environment

According to an Asian Development Bank report, more than 4 million cubic metres of commercial timber are cut annually in Cambodia, compared with an estimated sustainable yield of no more than 1.5 million cubic metres, and a further 6 million cubic metres of logs are felled each year for domestic consumption.

As a result of logging and other human encroachment, less than 39% of the original 10,000 square kilometres of flooded forest that formed the main fish-breeding grounds of the Tonle Sap lake remain under natural vegetation.

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Tourism

In 2007 there were 2,015,128 foreign tourist arrivals in Cambodia, an 18.53% increase over 2006 [11.1].

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Human rights

In 2003 the Cambodian police investigated over 400 human trafficking-related cases. The Ministry of Interior claims that 153 individuals were arrested for trafficking and trafficking-related offences [12.1].

In 2005 there were 665 reported child sex offences in Cambodia, resulting in 280 investigations and 397 arrests. A little over 1% of offenders were foreign nationals [12.2].

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Religion

There are 3,980 Buddhist pagodas and 59,470 Buddhist monks in Cambodia [13.1].

There are approximately 321,000 Muslims in Cambodia [13.2], 244 mosques (as at September 2005) [13.2] and 417 Muslim villages [13.2].

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The Christian Church

In 1990, when the Christian church in Cambodia was granted permission to operate by the government, there were ten Protestant churches in the country, all in Phnom Penh.

At a consultation held at the end of 2002, leaders of churches, denominations and mission agencies estimated that there were over 2,000 evangelical churches and over 100,000 evangelical Christians in Cambodia. The number of churches includes those awaiting registration by the Ministry of Religion and Cults.

The International Religious Freedom Report 2006, from the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, US Department of State, estimated that the Christian community constituted approximately 2% of Cambodia's population [14.1]. The report stated that 900 of Cambodia's estimated 2,400 churches were registered with the government [14.1].

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Updates and Corrections

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