Bhutan Population

Quick facts about the population of Bhutan

Current population (as of Tuesday, April 22, 2025)

828,759

Population rank

165 (0.01% of world population)

Total area

38,394 km2 (14,824 mi2)

Population density

21.6 per km2 (55.9 people/mi2)

Sex ratio

1.13 (438,913 men to 389,861 women)

Median age

26.3 years

Life expectancy

67.3 years (66.5 - men, 68.2 - women)

Literacy

64.9 %

(Population figures are estimates by Countrymeters based on the latest United Nations data)

Bhutan population 2025

During 2025 Bhutan population is projected to increase by 12,055 people and reach 837,149 in the beginning of 2026. The natural increase is expected to be positive, as the number of births will exceed the number of deaths by 9,843. If external migration will remain on the previous year level, the population will be increased by 2,211 due to the migration reasons. It means that the number of people who move into Bhutan (to which they are not native) in order to settle there as permanent residents (immigrants) will prevail over the number of people who leave the country to settle permanently in another country (emigrants).

Population change rates in 2025

According to our estimations, daily change rates of Bhutan population in 2025 will be the following:

• 41 live births average per day (1.72 in an hour)
• 14 deaths average per day (0.59 in an hour)
• 6 immigrants average per day (0.25 in an hour)

The population of Bhutan will be increasing by 33 persons daily in 2025.

Demographics of Bhutan 2024

As of 1 January 2025, the population of Bhutan was estimated to be 825,094 people. This is an increase of 1.46 % (11,881 people) compared to population of 813,213 the year before. In 2024 the natural increase was positive, as the number of births exceeded the number of deaths by 9,702. Due to external migration, the population increased by 2,179. The sex ratio of the total population was 1.126 (1,126 males per 1,000 females) which is higher than global sex ratio. The global sex ratio in the world was approximately 1,016 males to 1,000 females as of 2024.

Below are the key figures for Bhutan population in 2024:

• 14,817 live births
• 5,115 deaths
• Natural increase: 9,702 people
• Net migration: 2,179 people
• 436,964 males as of 31 December 2024
• 388,130 females as of 31 December 2024

Bhutan population density

Bhutan population density is 21.5 people per square kilometer (55.7/mi²) as of April 2025. Density of population is calculated as permanently settled population of Bhutan divided by total area of the country. Total area is the sum of land and water areas within international boundaries and coastlines of Bhutan. The total area of Bhutan is 38,394 km² (14,824 mi²) according to the United Nations Statistics Division .

Religion in Bhutan

Religion	Number of followers	Percentage of total population
Buddhism	619,083	74.7 %
Hinduism	187,300	22.6 %
Folk or traditional religions	16,575	2.0 %
Christianity	4,144	0.5 %
Islam	1,658	0.2 %

Source: Pew Research Center. The Global Religious Landscape .

Number of followers estimated by Countrymeters (Tuesday, April 22 2025).

Bhutan age structure

As of the beginning of 2025 according to our estimates Bhutan had the following population age distribution:

28.9

65.3

5.7

	- percentage of population under 15
	- percentage of population between 15 and 64 years old
	- percentage of population 65+

In absolute figures (estimate):

• 238,766 young people under 15 years old ( 121,850 males / 116,916 females)
• 539,149 persons between 15 and 64 years old ( 285,408 males / 253,741 females)
• 47,171 persons above 64 years old ( 24,860 males / 22,311 females)

We prepared a simplified model of the population distribution pyramid which is broken down into 3 main age groups. The groups are the same as we used above: population under 15, between 15 and 64 and population which is over 65 year old.

65+

15-64

0-14

male

female

Note: The pyramid provided is not corresponding to data given above because the age groups have different number of years.

As we can see the Bhutan population pyramid has an expanding type. This type of pyramid is common for developing countries with high birth and death rates. Relatively short life expectancy, as well as low level of education and poor health care are also describe such kind of population age distribution model.

Source: The estimation data for section "Bhutan age structure" is based on the latest demographic and social statistics by United Nations Statistics Division .

Age dependency ratio

Dependency ratio of population is a ratio of people who are generally not in the labor force (the dependents) to workforce of a country (the productive part of population). The dependent part includes the population under 15 years old and people aged 65 and over. The productive part of population accordingly consists of population between 15 and 64 years.

This ratio shows the pressure on productive population produced by the dependent part of population.

The total dependency ratio of population in Bhutan is 53 %.

What does this value mean? It shows that the dependent part of population is more than a half of the working part. It means that the working population (labor force) in Bhutan must provide goods for itself and cover expenditure on children and aged persons (this population is more than a half of working population). The value of more than 50% shows that the pressure on productive population in Bhutan is relatively high.

Child dependency ratio

Child dependency ratio is a ratio of people below working age (under 15) to workforce of a country.

Child dependency ratio in Bhutan is 44.3 %.

Aged dependency ratio

Aged dependency ratio is a ratio of people above working age (65+) to workforce of a country.

Aged dependency ratio in Bhutan is 8.7 %.

Source: The estimation data for section "Bhutan age dependency ratio" is based on the latest demographic and social statistics by United Nations Statistics Division .

Life expectancy

Life expectancy at birth is one of the most important demographic indicator. It shows the number of years a newborn infant would live assuming that birth and death rates will remain at the same level during the whole lifetime.

Total life expectancy (both sexes) at birth for Bhutan is 67.3 years.
This is below the average life expectancy at birth of the global population which is about 71 years (according to Population Division of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations).

Male life expectancy at birth is 66.5 years.
Female life expectancy at birth is 68.2 years.

Literacy of population

According to our estimates 378,468 persons or 64.55% of adult population (aged 15 years and above) in Bhutan are able to read and write. Accordingly about 207,852 adults are illiterate.

Literacy rate for adult male population is 73.06% (226,694 persons). 83,574 are illiterate.
Literacy rate for adult female population is 54.98% (151,773 persons). 124,279 are illiterate.

Youth literacy rates are 89.94% and 87.29% for males and females accordingly. The overall youth literacy rate is 88.64%. Youth literacy rate definition covers the population between the ages of 15 to 24 years.

Source: The estimation data for section "Bhutan population literacy" is based on the latest data published by UNESCO Institute for Statistics (retrieved March 13, 2016) .