One in every three people in Bangladesh suffered from some form of illness in 2025, with women reporting higher morbidity than men, according to a new survey released by the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS).
The “Health and Morbidity Status Survey (HMSS) 2025” found that 33 percent of the population or 332.19 per 1,000 people experienced an illness in the 90 days before the survey.
Women were more affected, reporting a morbidity rate of 354.56 per thousand, compared to 309.06 per thousand among men.
Elderly citizens faced the highest burden of illness.
Morbidity peaked among people aged 75 to 79, with 744 illnesses per thousand, while infants under one year recorded the lowest rate at 232 per thousand.
Hypertension emerged as the most common illness, affecting 78.28 per thousand respondents.
Other leading conditions included peptic ulcer (63.79), diabetes (43.15), arthritis (39.75), skin diseases (37.23), heart disease (31.32), asthma (30.94), osteoporosis (22.30), hepatitis (22.30) and diarrhoea (15.89).
The survey, one of the most extensive national health assessments in recent years, covered 47,040 households and collected data from 189,986 individuals across the country between November and December last year.
Health spending also featured prominently.
Average per-capita medical expenditure for the preceding three months stood at Tk 2,487.
Women spent more on average, at Tk 2,576 per person, compared to Tk 2,387 for men.
The survey reviewed tobacco use among people aged 15 and above and found that 26.7 percent used some form of tobacco.
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Usage was higher in rural areas at 27.7 percent, compared to 24.1 percent in urban areas.
Among women aged 15 to 49, 5.2 percent were pregnant during data collection, while 6.9 percent had given birth in the previous 12 months.
The nationwide caesarean delivery rate remained notably high at 49.3 percent, rising to 53.3 percent in urban areas and 48.1 percent in rural regions.
The average cost per delivery was estimated at Tk 22,677.