Demographics & population — Cambodia
Population size, age structure, migration, ethnicity, language, education, and health indicators.
Profile updated 2026-06-02
⚡ Demographics & population at a glance
Population size, age structure, migration, ethnicity, language, education, and health indicators. Key figure for Cambodia: 16,926,984
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Population overview
- Population
16,926,984
- Population - note
Note: estimates for this country take into account the effects of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result in lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality, higher death rates, lower population growth rates, and changes in the distribution of the population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected
- Population Growth Rate
1.67%
- Urban Population
- Population in Major Urban Areas
PHNOM PENH (capital) 1.55 million
Age & family
- Age Structure
- Median Age
- Birth Rate - births/1,000 population
25
- Death Rate - deaths/1,000 population
7.88
- Total Fertility Rate - children born/woman
2.72
- Contraceptive Prevalance Rate - female 12-49
50.5%
- Contraceptive Prevalence Rate - female 12-49
50.5%
- Mean Age for Mother's First Birth (age 25-49)
22.8
- Mother's mean age at first birth
22.8
- Sex Ratio at Birth - male/female
Migration
- Net Migration Rate - migrant(s)/1,000 population
-0.33
Ethnicity & language
- Ethnic Groups
Khmer 90%, Vietnamese 5%, Chinese 1%, other 4%
- Language Note
The Khmer language comes from an older language called paali, which developed as a successor to Indian Sanskrit. Khmer has 26 vowels and 33 consonants.
- Nationality Noun
Cambodian(s)
Education
- Literacy - total population
73.6%
- Literacy - male
84.7%
- Literacy - female
64.1%
- Literacy Definition
Age 15 and over can read and write
- Education Expenditures - percent of GDP
2.6%
- Total School Life Expectancy - (primary to tertiary)
Health & living conditions
- Life Expectancy at Birth
- Infant Mortality Rate
- Infant Mortality Rate - total deaths/1,000 live births
- Maternal Mortality Rate - deaths/100,000 live births
250
- Physicians Density - physicians/1,000 population
.23
- Hospital Bed Density - beds/1,000 population
.7
- Health Expenditures - percent of GDP
5.7%
- Major Infectious Diseases - degree of risk
Very high
- Obesity - adult prevalence rate
2.1%
- Drinking Water Source - percent of urban population improved
- Sanitation Facility Access - percent of urban population improved
- Underweight - percent of children under five years
29%