Demographics of Cambodia

The people of Cambodia make up a rich and diverse nation in Southeast Asia. Studying the demographics of Cambodia helps us understand who lives there and how they live. This includes looking at how many people there are, where they live, and how close together they are — known as population density.

Cambodia is mostly home to the Khmer people, who make up the largest group. But there are also many smaller groups that add to the country’s cultural variety. Looking at things like education, health, and how much money people have helps us see how the country is doing and what might need attention.

Religion also plays an important role in daily life for many people in Cambodia. Knowing about these different aspects of the population gives us a clearer picture of the nation and its people.

Population size and structure

Between 1874 and 1921, the population of Cambodia grew from about 946,000 to 2.4 million. By 1950, it was between 3,710,107 and 4,073,967, and in 1962 it reached 5.7 million. From the 1960s until 1975, the population increased by about 2.2% each year, the slowest growth in Southeast Asia.

By 1975, when the Khmer Rouge took control, the population was about 7.3 million. After that time, the population went down because of hard times. In 1981, the population was nearly 6.7 million, though some think it was closer to 6.3 million to 6.4 million.

The population grew again after this time. From 1978 to 1985, it grew by 2.3% each year on average. A baby boom happened after the Khmer Rouge time, pushing the population above 10 million, though growth has slowed in recent years.

In 1959, about 45% of people were under 15 years old. By 1962, this was about 46%. In 1962, about 52% of people were between 15 and 64 years old, and 2% were older than 65. The numbers of males and females in these groups were almost the same.

Population Estimates by Sex and Age Group (01.VII.2013) (Excluding foreign diplomatic personnel and their dependents. Data based on the 2008 Population Census):

Population Estimates by Sex and Age Group (01.VII.2021) (Data based on the 2019 Population Census.):

Urbanization

Main article: List of cities and towns in Cambodia

In 2019, about 39.4% of people in Cambodia lived in cities and towns. The rate at which more people are moving to cities was 7.8% each year between 2008 and 2019.

Historical populations

Year

Pop.

±% p.a.

1876

890,000

—

1901

1,103,000

+0.86%

1911

1,487,900

+3.04%

1921

2,402,600

+4.91%

1931

2,806,000

+1.56%

1947

3,296,000

+1.01%

1951

4,261,000

+6.63%

1961

5,510,000

+2.60%

1971

7,270,000

+2.81%

1981

6,682,000

−0.84%

1991

8,810,000

+2.80%

2001

12,353,000

+3.44%

2011

14,701,717

+1.76%

2019

15,552,211

+0.71%

Source:

Year	Total population (thousands)	Population percentage
Year	Total population (thousands)	aged 0–14	aged 15–64	aged 65+
1950	4 346	42.2%	55.1%	2.7%
1955	4 840	42.3%	55.0%	2.7%
1960	5 433	42.5%	54.8%	2.7%
1965	6 141	42.8%	54.4%	2.7%
1970	6 938	43.2%	54.0%	2.8%
1975	7 308	42.3%	54.9%	2.8%
1980	6 306	39.0%	58.1%	2.9%
1985	7 920	42.1%	55.0%	2.9%
1990	9 532	43.8%	53.4%	2.8%
1995	11 169	47.5%	49.7%	2.8%
2000	12 447	41.6%	55.4%	3.0%
2005	13 358	36.4%	60.3%	3.3%
2010	14 138	31.9%	64.3%	3.8%
2015	15 521	31.6%	64.3%	4.1%
2020	16 719	30.9%	64.2%	4.9%

Age group	Male	Female	Total	%
Total	7 320 112	7 642 479	14 962 591	100
0–4	806 531	777 854	1 584 385	10.59
5–9	721 480	693 339	1 414 819	9.46
10–14	768 899	735 963	1 504 862	10.06
15–19	878 612	830 980	1 709 592	11.43
20–24	848 931	800 737	1 649 668	11.03
25–29	678 825	712 044	1 390 869	9.30
30–34	613 674	637 973	1 251 647	8.37
35–39	338 735	363 397	702 132	4.69
40–44	411 072	441 415	852 487	5.70
45–49	344 372	395 214	739 586	4.94
50–54	295 645	352 214	648 347	4.33
55–59	190 528	288 806	479 334	3.20
60–64	153 721	218 867	372 588	2.49
65–69	105 605	147 502	253 107	1.69
70–74	76 017	108 069	184 086	1.23
75–79	47 601	72 558	120 159	0.80
80+	39 864	65 059	104 923	0.70
Age group	Male	Female	Total	Percent
0–14	2 296 910	2 207 156	4 504 066	30.10
15–64	4 754 115	5 042 135	9 796 250	65.47
65+	269 087	393 188	662 275	4.43

Age group	Male	Female	Total	%
Total	8 093 453	8 498 636	16 592 089	100
0–4	791 593	755 468	1 547 061	9.32
5–9	792 080	756 481	1 548 561	9.33
10–14	843 604	804 317	1 647 921	9.93
15–19	799 876	773 934	1 573 810	9.49
20–24	647 446	666 588	1 314 034	7.92
25–29	684 545	720 947	1 405 492	8.47
30–34	682 783	713 536	1 396 319	8.42
35–39	684 224	703 803	1 388 027	8.37
40–44	483 437	500 719	984 156	5.93
45–49	369 988	393 527	763 515	4.60
50–54	360 130	409 250	769 380	4.64
55–59	319 093	370 486	689 579	4.16
60–64	232 929	310 156	543 085	3.27
65–69	157 661	240 966	398 627	2.40
70–74	112 069	169 150	281 219	1.69
75–79	71 156	105 568	176 724	1.07
80+	60 839	103 740	164 579	0.99
Age group	Male	Female	Total	Percent
0–14	2 427 277	2 316 266	4 743 543	28.59
15–64	5 264 451	5 562 946	10 827 397	65.26
65+	401 725	619 424	1 021 149	6.15

Vital statistics

Cambodia has seen changes in its population over the years. The number of babies born and the number of deaths have been tracked to understand how the country is growing.

The number of babies each woman has, called the fertility rate, has gone down over time. In 2010, it was about 3 babies per woman, down from 4 babies in 2000. Women living in cities usually have fewer babies than those in the countryside. Some areas, like Mondol Kiri and Rattanak Kiri, have higher numbers, while Phnom Penh has the lowest.

The number of young children who sadly don’t live to see their fifth birthday has been getting smaller. This number is much lower today than it was in the year 2000. Having parents who can go to school and having more money helps keep children healthier and safer.

People in Cambodia are also living longer lives now than they did many years ago. In 1959, men lived about 44 years on average, and women lived about 43 years. Over time, this number has gone up.

Period	Population	Live births	Deaths	Natural change	CBR¹	CDR¹	NC¹	TFR¹	IMR¹	Life expectancy (years)
1950	4 380 000	209 000	107 000	102 000	47.7	24.4	23.3	6.63	172.5	38.94
1951	4 485 000	213 000	108 000	105 000	47.5	24.1	23.4	6.62	170.9	39.25
1952	4 593 000	218 000	110 000	109 000	47.5	23.9	23.6	6.63	168.9	39.51
1953	4 702 000	224 000	112 000	112 000	47.6	23.7	23.9	6.66	167.5	39.74
1954	4 814 000	230 000	112 000	117 000	47.7	23.3	24.4	6.69	165.1	40.22
1955	4 931 000	236 000	114 000	122 000	47.8	23.1	24.7	6.73	163.4	40.45
1956	5 052 000	241 000	115 000	126 000	47.8	22.8	24.9	6.75	160.8	40.77
1957	5 176 000	247 000	116 000	130 000	47.6	22.5	25.1	6.75	158.2	41.19
1958	5 298 000	245 000	117 000	128 000	46.2	22.0	24.2	6.57	155.6	41.52
1959	5 419 000	244 000	117 000	127 000	45.0	21.6	23.3	6.42	152.5	41.79
1960	5 542 000	242 000	116 000	126 000	43.7	21.0	22.7	6.25	149.5	42.36
1961	5 665 000	242 000	116 000	127 000	42.8	20.4	22.3	6.12	147.0	42.79
1962	5 789 000	242 000	115 000	127 000	41.9	19.9	22.0	6.00	144.3	43.32
1963	5 914 000	242 000	114 000	128 000	40.9	19.3	21.6	5.85	141.7	43.90
1964	6 041 000	248 000	114 000	134 000	41.0	18.9	22.1	5.86	139.2	44.40
1965	6 171 000	252 000	115 000	137 000	40.8	18.5	22.2	5.82	136.9	44.79
1966	6 299 000	255 000	114 000	141 000	40.5	18.1	22.4	5.77	134.6	45.36
1967	6 426 000	258 000	115 000	143 000	40.1	17.9	22.2	5.71	132.3	45.51
1968	6 553 000	261 000	116 000	145 000	39.8	17.7	22.1	5.65	130.1	45.79
1969	6 680 000	263 000	116 000	147 000	39.4	17.4	22.0	5.56	128.0	46.24
1970	6 709 000	277 000	154 000	123 000	40.7	22.6	18.1	5.72	126.3	39.13
1971	6 696 000	276 000	150 000	125 000	40.9	22.3	18.6	5.87	124.7	39.51
1972	6 766 000	283 000	148 000	136 000	41.7	21.7	20.0	5.99	121.9	40.22
1973	6 852 000	269 000	150 000	119 000	39.2	21.8	17.4	5.56	125.0	40.02
1974	6 913 000	240 000	150 000	90 000	34.6	21.6	13.0	4.80	126.9	39.80
1975	6 728 000	210 000	578 000	−368 000	31.2	85.7	−54.6	4.10	265.4	12.00
1976	6 307 000	175 000	548 000	−373 000	27.6	86.6	−58.9	3.41	173.1	12.01
1977	6 040 000	140 000	192 000	−52 000	23.1	31.7	−8.7	2.72	134.2	28.91
1978	5 961 000	171 000	136 000	35 000	28.4	22.6	5.8	3.34	131.2	36.98
1979	6 052 000	227 000	114 000	113 000	37.9	19.1	18.8	4.56	117.9	42.28
1980	6 199 000	301 000	104 000	198 000	48.0	16.5	31.5	5.77	115.8	47.57
1981	6 364 000	311 000	106 000	205 000	49.1	16.7	32.4	6.04	112.8	48.18
1982	6 620 000	333 000	109 000	224 000	50.3	16.5	33.9	6.19	109.4	48.74
1983	6 882 000	350 000	111 000	239 000	51.0	16.1	34.8	6.30	106.1	49.49
1984	7 134 000	367 000	113 000	254 000	51.3	15.7	35.6	6.34	102.7	50.24
1985	7 376 000	374 000	113 000	261 000	50.6	15.3	35.4	6.31	99.6	51.04
1986	7 661 000	380 000	114 000	266 000	49.7	14.9	34.8	6.23	96.7	51.51
1987	7 976 000	387 000	109 000	278 000	48.7	13.7	35.0	6.10	94.1	53.45
1988	8 270 000	393 000	109 000	284 000	47.5	13.2	34.3	5.94	91.2	54.28
1989	8 571 000	390 000	109 000	281 000	45.6	12.7	32.9	5.72	88.6	54.80
1990	8 911 000	398 000	109 000	289 000	44.8	12.2	32.5	5.64	86.2	55.43
1991	9 259 000	404 000	111 000	294 000	43.8	12.0	31.8	5.57	86.4	55.79
1992	9 718 000	406 000	113 000	294 000	42.4	11.8	30.6	5.45	86.4	56.02
1993	10 244 000	414 000	117 000	297 000	40.8	11.5	29.3	5.27	87.0	56.08
1994	10 636 000	411 000	121 000	290 000	38.6	11.4	27.3	5.05	88.3	56.04
1995	10 920 000	395 000	121 000	274 000	36.2	10.9	25.1	4.82	88.6	56.31
1996	11 183 000	377 000	121 000	256 000	33.7	10.4	22.9	4.87	89.0	56.35
1997	11 432 000	362 000	120 000	242 000	31.7	9.9	21.2	4.39	88.5	56.74
1998	11 669 000	343 000	118 000	225 000	30.4	9.5	20.8	4.13	87.2	57.03
1999	11 899 000	341 000	116 000	225 000	29.1	9.1	20.0	3.93	84.4	57.69
2000	12 119 000	334 000	112 000	222 000	28.5	8.7	19.8	3.79	79.9	58.63
2001	12 338 000	332 000	107 000	225 000	28.1	8.3	19.8	3.69	73.2	59.97
2002	12 562 000	332 000	102 000	230 000	27.5	7.9	19.6	3.57	66.4	61.23
2003	12 788 000	331 000	98 000	233 000	26.9	7.6	19.3	3.43	60.4	62.52
2004	13 016 000	332 000	95 000	237 000	26.3	7.3	19.0	3.31	55.3	63.55
2005	13 247 000	334 000	93 000	241 000	26.1	7.0	19.1	3.24	51.0	64.29
2006	13 478 000	336 000	92 000	244 000	26.1	6.8	19.3	3.17	47.4	65.06
2007	13 715 000	342 000	91 000	251 000	26.2	6.6	19.6	3.13	44.3	65.73
2008	13 944 000	341 000	90 000	252 000	25.9	6.5	19.4	3.05	41.3	66.47
2009	14 156 000	342 000	87 000	255 000	25.6	6.4	19.2	2.97	38.4	67.44
2010	14 364 000	340 000	88 000	252 000	25.0	6.3	18.8	2.86	35.7	67.71
2011	14 574 000	341 000	87 000	254 000	24.6	6.1	18.5	2.78	33.4	68.42
2012	14 787 000	345 000	87 000	258 000	24.6	6.1	18.5	2.75	31.0	68.92
2013	15 000 000	346 000	87 000	259 000	24.6	6.0	18.5	2.74	29.3	69.30
2014	15 211 000	347 000	88 000	259 000	24.4	6.0	18.4	2.59	27.8	69.74
2015	15 418 000	345 000	90 000	255 000	24.2	6.0	18.2	2.73	26.4	69.87
2016	15 625 000	342 000	90 000	252 000	24.0	6.0	17.9	2.72	25.3	70.22
2017	15 831 000	338 000	92 000	247 000	23.7	6.1	17.6	2.72	24.2	70.52
2018	16 025 000	334 000	94 000	240 000	23.4	6.1	17.2	2.72	23.3	70.56
2019	15 552 211(C)	329 000	97 000	233 000	23.0	6.2	16.8	2.72	22.4	70.69
2020	16 397 000	326 000	102 000	223 000	22.4	6.3	16.1	2.70	21.6	70.42
2021	16 589 000	321 000	114 000	207 000	21.9	6.8	15.1	2.66	20.8	69.58
2022					21.3	6.3	15.0	2.62
2023					20.8	6.4	14.4	2.58
2024					20.3	6.5	13.9	2.55
2025					19.9	6.5	13.4	2.51
¹ CBR = crude birth rate (per 1000); CDR = crude death rate (per 1000); NC = natural change (per 1000); TFR = total fertility rate (number of children per woman); IMR = infant mortality rate per 1000 births

Year	Total		Urban		Rural
Year	CBR	TFR	CBR	TFR	CBR	TFR
1995–1998	29.0	4.11	25.0	3.31	29.0	4.25
2000	27.7	4.0 (3.1)	23.9	3.1 (2.5)	28.3	4.2 (3.2)
2005	25.6	3.4 (2.8)	23.8	2.8 (2.3)	25.9	3.5 (2.9)
2010	24.2	3.0 (2.6)	21.0	2.2 (2.0)	25.0	3.3 (2.8)
2014	22.0	2.7 (2.4)	20.2	2.1 (1.9)	22.4	2.9 (2.6)
2021–22	20.2	2.7 (2.4)	20.5	2.4 (2.2)	20.1	3.0 (2.7)

Province	Total fertility rate	Percentage of women age 15-49 currently pregnant	Completed fertility rate (Average number of children born per woman in her lifetime)
Banteay Meanchey	2.8	5.2	4.0
Kampong Cham	3.3	3.5	3.9
Kampong Chhnang	2.4	5.4	4.2
Kampong Speu	2.4	6.3	4.1
Kampong Thom	2.9	5.8	4.4
Kandal	2.5	5.7	3.9
Kratié	3.6	7.3	4.5
Phnom Penh	2.0	4.6	2.8
Prey Veng	3.0	4.9	3.5
Pursat	3.1	5.9	4.0
Siem Reap	2.7	5.2	3.9
Svay Rieng	2.5	5.7	3.4
Takéo	2.4	3.9	3.7
Oddar Meanchey	3.0	8.5	4.6
Battambang/Pailin	2.9	5.5	3.8
Kampot/Kep	2.5	4.9	3.9
Sihanoukville/Koh Kong	2.7	5.8	4.1
Preah Vihear/Stung Treng	3.6	9.5	5.2
Mondulkiri/Ratanakiri	3.3	6.9	4.8

Period	Life expectancy in Years	Period	Life expectancy in Years
1950–1955	40.3	1985–1990	52.0
1955–1960	41.1	1990–1995	54.3
1960–1965	41.4	1995–2000	56.4
1965–1970	42.0	2000–2005	60.8
1970–1975	37.8	2005–2010	65.1
1975–1980	14.5	2010–2015	67.6
1980–1985	52.0

Ethnic groups

Further information: Ethnic groups in Cambodia

The largest ethnic group in Cambodia is the Khmer, making up about 95.8% of the population in 2019. They mainly live in the lowland Mekong area and the central plains.

Other ethnic groups in Cambodia are called either "indigenous ethnic minorities" or "non-indigenous ethnic minorities". The indigenous groups, known as the Khmer Loeu, live mainly in the remote mountainous areas and follow their traditional beliefs. The non-indigenous groups include Chinese Cambodians, Vietnamese, and Cham peoples. These groups have mostly adopted Khmer culture and language. There are also smaller groups like the Tai peoples, Hmong, and Burmese peoples living in different parts of the country.

*Population of Cambodia according to ethnic group*
Ethnic group	Census 1998		Census 2008		Census 2019
Ethnic group	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%
Khmer	10,942,066	96.7	12,901,447	96.3	14,893,134	95.8
Indigenous ethnic minorities	276,081	2.4	383,273	2.9	448,282	2.9
Cham			179,193	1.52	272,217	1.77
Bunong			37,507	0.28	36,585	0.24
Tampuan			31,013	0.23	36,373	0.23
Kuy			28,612	0.21	16,762	0.11
Jarai			26,335	0.20	26,922	0.17
Kreung			19,988	0.15	21,453	0.14
Brao			9,025	0.07	10,086	0.06
Stieng			6,541	0.05	4,908	0.03
Kavet			6,218	0.05	7,569	0.05
Kraol			4,202	0.03	5,630	0.04
Pear			1,827	0.01	944	0.01
Ro Ong			1,831	0.01	573	0.00
Mel			1,697	0.01	984	0.01
Thmoon			865	0.01	1,164	0.01
Suoy			857	0.01	775	0.00
Khogn			743	0.01	109	0.00
Klueng			702	0.00	413	0.00
Kchruk			408	0.00	266	0.00
Sa'och			445	0.00	209	0.00
Ta Mun			400	0.00
Lon			327	0.00	1,033	0.01
K'nuh			56	0.00
Mon			19	0.00	27	0.00
Rade			21	0.00	179	0.00
Kchak			10	0.00	16	0.00
K'jah			5	0.00
Chinese	26,721	0.2	6,530	0.05	94,450	0.6
Vietnamese	140,328	1.2	72,775	0.5	78,090	0.5
Lao	28,854	0.2	18,515	0.1	13,636	0.1
Thai	2,482	0.02	2,458	0.02	6,650	0.04
Other	25,124	0.2	10,684	0.1	17,769	0.1
Total	11,437,656		13,395,682		15,552,211

Languages

Main article: Khmer language

Khmer is the main language spoken by most people in Cambodia. It belongs to a group of languages called Austroasiatic. The most common form of Khmer is called Central Khmer, spoken in the central part of the country where many ethnic Khmers live. There are also other Khmer dialects such as the one used in Phnom Penh, Northern Khmer, Western Khmer, Southern Khmer, and Khmer Khe.

Besides Khmer, Cambodia is home to many other languages. About 22 different languages are spoken there, most of which are also part of the Austroasiatic family. Some of these include Kuy, Por, Somray, Chong, Suoy, Sa'och, Tampuan, Kaco', Stieng, Mnong, Brao, Krung, and Sou. Many of these languages are also spoken in nearby Vietnam. Vietnamese is another language spoken in some parts of Cambodia. Other languages include Cham, Jarai, Thai, and Lao.

In schools, both English and French are taught to different levels. Cambodia also has its own sign language, known as Cambodian Sign Language.

Religions

Main article: Religion in Cambodia

Most people in Cambodia practice Buddhism, with about 97.1% of the population following this belief. A small number of people follow Islam, making up 2.0% of the population, while Christianity accounts for 0.3%. The remaining 0.5% belong to other religious groups.

Emigration

Many people from Cambodia have moved to live in other countries. Some of the places where Cambodian people live include Thailand, Vietnam, the United States, France, Malaysia, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, China, especially Hong Kong, the United Kingdom, Laos, Singapore, Switzerland, South Korea, and Japan. These communities help keep connections between Cambodia and the rest of the world.