Cambodia’s latest population estimate, based on the 2004 intercensal survey, is 13 million. The median age is just under 20 years, with the proportion aged 0-24 being twice that of those aged 25-50. The total fertility rate is 3.3 (2004) and the annual population growth rate from 1998 to 2004 was 1.8%. Eighty-four per cent of the population lives in rural areas, but there is a significant urban drift, especially among young people.

The Constitution guarantees women and men the same legal protection. However, women are disproportionately vulnerable in economic terms. While labour force participation for both is about 60%, over 60% of working women are in unpaid family work. More than 25% of households are headed by women. Sixty-seven per cent of Cambodian women are literate, compared with 82% for men. During the 1990s, the maternal mortality ratio declined; however, it is still high at 437 per 100 000 lives births (2000).

War and serious internal conflict between 1968 and 1993 left Cambodia severely impoverished, with a significant depletion of skilled, educated professionals. In 1990, the Human Development Index (HDI) was 0.51, and by 2002 it had increased to 0.57, moving Cambodia from the low to the medium human development category. Despite this achievement, Cambodia still has some of the worst human development indicators in South-East Asia. In 2003, the per capita gross domestic product was US$ 306, with 36% of the total population still living below the official rural and urban poverty lines of US$ 0.46 and US$ 0.63 (1999). In some rural areas the percentage of the population living below the poverty line rises to 79%. Access to potable water has improved, but nearly two thirds of the rural population and one quarter of city dwellers still rely on unsafe sources. Less than one quarter of Cambodians have access to safe excreta disposal.

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