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Cambodia vs. Thailand

Demographics

CambodiaThailand
Population17,304,363 (July 2021 est.)69,480,520 (July 2021 est.)
Age structure0-14 years: 30.18% (male 2,582,427/female 2,525,619)

15-24 years: 17.28% (male 1,452,784/female 1,472,769)

25-54 years: 41.51% (male 3,442,051/female 3,584,592)

55-64 years: 6.44% (male 476,561/female 612,706)

65 years and over: 4.59% (male 287,021/female 490,454) (2020 est.)
0-14 years: 16.45% (male 5,812,803/female 5,533,772)

15-24 years: 13.02% (male 4,581,622/female 4,400,997)

25-54 years: 45.69% (male 15,643,583/female 15,875,353)

55-64 years: 13.01% (male 4,200,077/female 4,774,801)

65 years and over: 11.82% (male 3,553,273/female 4,601,119) (2020 est.)
Median agetotal: 26.4 years

male: 25.6 years

female: 27.2 years (2020 est.)
total: 39 years

male: 37.8 years

female: 40.1 years (2020 est.)
Population growth rate1.34% (2021 est.)0.26% (2021 est.)
Birth rate20.84 births/1,000 population (2021 est.)10.25 births/1,000 population (2021 est.)
Death rate7.15 deaths/1,000 population (2021 est.)7.66 deaths/1,000 population (2021 est.)
Net migration rate-0.29 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2021 est.)-0.03 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2021 est.)
Sex ratioat birth: 1.05 male(s)/female

0-14 years: 1.02 male(s)/female

15-24 years: 0.99 male(s)/female

25-54 years: 0.96 male(s)/female

55-64 years: 0.78 male(s)/female

65 years and over: 0.59 male(s)/female

total population: 0.95 male(s)/female (2020 est.)
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female

0-14 years: 1.05 male(s)/female

15-24 years: 1.04 male(s)/female

25-54 years: 0.99 male(s)/female

55-64 years: 0.88 male(s)/female

65 years and over: 0.77 male(s)/female

total population: 0.96 male(s)/female (2020 est.)
Infant mortality ratetotal: 45.62 deaths/1,000 live births

male: 52.46 deaths/1,000 live births

female: 38.47 deaths/1,000 live births (2021 est.)
total: 6.58 deaths/1,000 live births

male: 7.2 deaths/1,000 live births

female: 5.92 deaths/1,000 live births (2021 est.)
Life expectancy at birthtotal population: 66.27 years

male: 63.7 years

female: 68.95 years (2021 est.)
total population: 77.41 years

male: 74.39 years

female: 80.6 years (2021 est.)
Total fertility rate2.36 children born/woman (2021 est.)1.54 children born/woman (2021 est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate0.5% (2020 est.)1% (2020 est.)
Nationalitynoun: Cambodian(s)

adjective: Cambodian
noun: Thai (singular and plural)

adjective: Thai
Ethnic groupsKhmer 97.6%, Cham 1.2%, Chinese 0.1%, Vietnamese 0.1%, other 0.9% (2013 est.)Thai 97.5%, Burmese 1.3%, other 1.1%, unspecified <.1% (2015 est.)

note: data represent population by nationality
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS75,000 (2020 est.)500,000 (2020 est.)
ReligionsBuddhist (official) 97.9%, Muslim 1.1%, Christian 0.5%, other 0.6% (2013 est.)Buddhist 94.6%, Muslim 4.3%, Christian 1%, other <0.1%, none <0.1% (2015 est.)
HIV/AIDS - deaths1,200 (2020 est.)12,000 (2020 est.)
LanguagesKhmer (official) 95.8%, minority languages 2.9%, Chinese .6%, Vietnamese .5%, other .2% (2019 est.)

major-language sample(s):
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The World Factbook, the indispensable source for basic information.
Thai (official) only 90.7%, Thai and other languages 6.4%, only other languages 2.9% (includes Malay, Burmese); note - data represent population by language(s) spoken at home; English is a secondary language of the elite (2010 est.)

major-language sample(s):
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The World Factbook, the indispensable source for basic information.
Literacydefinition: age 15 and over can read and write

total population: 80.5%

male: 86.5%

female: 75% (2015)
definition: age 15 and over can read and write

total population: 92.9%

male: 94.7%

female: 91.2% (2015)
Major infectious diseasesdegree of risk: very high (2020)

food or waterborne diseases: bacterial diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever

vectorborne diseases: dengue fever, Japanese encephalitis, and malaria
degree of risk: very high (2020)

food or waterborne diseases: bacterial diarrhea

vectorborne diseases: dengue fever, Japanese encephalitis, and malaria
School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education)total: 11 years

male: 11 years

female: 10 years (2008)
total: 15 years

male: 15 years

female: 16 years (2016)
Education expenditures2.2% of GDP (2018)4.1% of GDP (2013)
Urbanizationurban population: 24.7% of total population (2021)

rate of urbanization: 3.06% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)
urban population: 52.2% of total population (2021)

rate of urbanization: 1.43% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)
Drinking water sourceimproved: urban: 98.4% of population

rural: 77.8% of population

total: 80.3% of population

unimproved: urban: 1.6% of population

rural: 22.2% of population

total: 19.7% of population (2017 est.)
improved: urban: 100% of population

rural: 100% of population

total: 100% of population

unimproved: urban: 0% of population

rural: 0% of population

total: 0% of population (2017 est.)
Sanitation facility accessimproved: urban: 100% of population

rural: 55.5% of population

total: 65.7% of population

unimproved: urban: 0% of population

rural: 44.5% of population

total: 34.3% of population (2017 est.)
improved: urban: 100% of population

rural: 100% of population

total: 99.9% of population

unimproved: urban: 0% of population

rural: 0% of population

total: 0.1% of population (2017 est.)
Major cities - population2.144 million PHNOM PENH (capital) (2021)10.723 million BANGKOK (capital), 1.417 Chon Buri, 1.324 million Samut Prakan, 1.182 million Chiang Mai, 979,000 Songkla, 975,000 Nothaburi (2021)
Maternal mortality rate160 deaths/100,000 live births (2017 est.)37 deaths/100,000 live births (2017 est.)
Children under the age of 5 years underweight24.1% (2014)7.7% (2019)
Health expenditures6% (2018)3.8% (2018)
Physicians density0.19 physicians/1,000 population (2014)0.81 physicians/1,000 population (2018)
Hospital bed density1.9 beds/1,000 population (2016)2.1 beds/1,000 population (2010)
Obesity - adult prevalence rate3.9% (2016)10% (2016)
Mother's mean age at first birth22.4 years (2014 est.)

note: median age at first birth among women 25-49
23.3 years (2009 est.)
Demographic profile

Cambodia is a predominantly rural country with among the most ethnically and religiously homogenous populations in Southeast Asia: more than 95% of its inhabitants are Khmer and more than 95% are Buddhist.  The population's size and age structure shrank and then rebounded during the 20th century as a result of conflict and mass death.  During the Khmer Rouge regime between 1975 and 1979 as many as 1.5 to 2 million people are estimated to have been killed or died as a result of starvation, disease, or overwork - a loss of about 25% of the population.  At the same time, emigration was high, and the fertility rate sharply declined.  In the 1980s, after the overthrow of the Khmer Rouge, fertility nearly doubled and reached pre-Khmer Rouge levels of close to 7 children per woman, reflecting in part higher infant survival rates.  The baby boom was followed by a sustained fertility decline starting in the early 1990s, eventually decreasing from 3.8 in 2000 to 2.9 in 2010, although the rate varied by income, education, and rural versus urban location.  Despite continuing fertility reduction, Cambodia still has a youthful population that is likely to maintain population growth through population momentum. Improvements have also been made in mortality, life expectancy, and contraceptive prevalence, although reducing malnutrition among children remains stalled.  Differences in health indicators are pronounced between urban and rural areas, which experience greater poverty.

Cambodia is predominantly a country of migration, driven by the search for work, education, or marriage.  Internal migration is more prevalent than international migration, with rural to urban migration being the most common, followed by rural to rural migration.  Urban migration focuses on the pursuit of unskilled or semi-skilled jobs in Phnom Penh, with men working mainly in the construction industry and women working in garment factories.  Most Cambodians who migrate abroad do so illegally using brokers because it is cheaper and faster than through formal channels, but doing so puts them at risk of being trafficked for forced labor or sexual exploitation.  Young Cambodian men and women migrate short distances across the Thai border using temporary passes to work in agriculture, while others migrate long distances primarily into Thailand and Malaysia for work in agriculture, fishing, construction, manufacturing, and domestic service.  Cambodia was a refugee sending country in the 1970s and 1980s as a result of the brutality of the Khmer Rouge regime, its ousting by the Vietnamese invasion, and the resultant civil war.  Tens of thousands of Cambodians fled to Thailand; more than 100,000 were resettled in the US in the 1980s.  Cambodia signed a multi-million dollar agreement with Australia in 2014 to voluntarily resettle refugees seeking shelter in Australia.  However, the deal has proven to be a failure because of poor conditions and a lack of support services for the few refugees willing to accept the offer.

Thailand has experienced a substantial fertility decline since the 1960s largely due to the nationwide success of its voluntary family planning program.  In just one generation, the total fertility rate (TFR) shrank from 6.5 children per woman in 1960s to below the replacement level of 2.1 in the late 1980s.  Reduced fertility occurred among all segments of the Thai population, despite disparities between urban and rural areas in terms of income, education, and access to public services.  The country's "reproductive revolution" gained momentum in the 1970s as a result of the government's launch of an official population policy to reduce population growth, the introduction of new forms of birth control, and the assistance of foreign non-government organizations.  Contraceptive use rapidly increased as new ways were developed to deliver family planning services to Thailand's then overwhelmingly rural population.  The contraceptive prevalence rate increased from just 14% in 1970 to 58% in 1981 and has remained about 80% since 2000. 

Thailand's receptiveness to family planning reflects the predominant faith, Theravada Buddhism, which emphasizes individualism, personal responsibility, and independent decision-making.  Thai women have more independence and a higher status than women in many other developing countries and are not usually pressured by their husbands or other family members about family planning decisions.  Thailand's relatively egalitarian society also does not have the son preference found in a number of other Asian countries; most Thai ideally want one child of each sex.

Because of its low fertility rate, increasing life expectancy, and growing elderly population, Thailand has become an aging society that will face growing labor shortages.  The proportion of the population under 15 years of age has shrunk dramatically, the proportion of working-age individuals has peaked and is starting to decrease, and the proportion of elderly is growing rapidly.  In the short-term, Thailand will have to improve educational quality to increase the productivity of its workforce and to compete globally in skills-based industries.  An increasing reliance on migrant workers will be necessary to mitigate labor shortfalls.

Thailand is a destination, transit, and source country for migrants. It has 3-4 million migrant workers as of 2017, mainly providing low-skilled labor in the construction, agriculture, manufacturing, services, and fishing and seafood processing sectors.  Migrant workers from other Southeast Asian countries with lower wages - primarily Burma and, to a lesser extent, Laos and Cambodia - have been coming to Thailand for decades to work in labor-intensive industries.  Many are undocumented and are vulnerable to human trafficking for forced labor, especially in the fisheries industry, or sexual exploitation.  A July 2017 migrant worker law stiffening fines on undocumented workers and their employers, prompted tens of thousands of migrants to go home.  Fearing a labor shortage, the Thai Government has postponed implementation of the law until January 2018 and is rapidly registering workers.  Thailand has also hosted ethnic minority refugees from Burma for more than 30 years; as of 2016, approximately 105,000 mainly Karen refugees from Burma were living in nine camps along the Thailand-Burma border.

Thailand has a significant amount of internal migration, most often from rural areas to urban centers, where there are more job opportunities.  Low- and semi-skilled Thais also go abroad to work, mainly in Asia and a smaller number in the Middle East and Africa, primarily to more economically developed countries where they can earn higher wages.

Contraceptive prevalence rate56.3% (2014)73% (2019)
Dependency ratiostotal dependency ratio: 55.7

youth dependency ratio: 48.2

elderly dependency ratio: 7.6

potential support ratio: 13.2 (2020 est.)
total dependency ratio: 41.9

youth dependency ratio: 23.5

elderly dependency ratio: 18.4

potential support ratio: 5.4 (2020 est.)

Source: CIA Factbook