"Cambodia's civil war, lasting into the early 1990's, made it one of Asia's least developed countries. More than one third of all Cambodians live below the national poverty line of about 50 US cents a day. Cambodia is also one of the most unequal countries in Asia in terms of income and consumption patterns..." (UNDP 2005)

Population and Economy

• Estimated 2005 population: 14 071 000 (WHO 2007)
  Rural: 85%; urban: 15% (Human Development Report (HDR) 2006)
  Aged under 18: 6 242 000 (ie: 44.4%)
  Aged under 5: 1 835 000 (ie: 13.0%)
  Annual rate of growth: 2.5% (UNICEF 2007)
• Human Poverty Index (HPI-1): 41.3%, the worst in East Asia and the Pacific; ranks 81st of 103 countries (HDR 2005)
• Human Development Index (HDI): 0.571; ranks 130th of 177 countries (HDR 2005)
• GDP per person: $UD350.00 (133rd of 177 countries (HDR 2005)); 34.7% live on less than $US1 per day (UNDP 2005)

Life Expectancy (WHO 2007)

• Cambodian Life Expectancy at birth (LE): 55 years;
  males: 51 y; females: 57 y

  By comparison:

  LE, South East Asian Region (SEAR)- males: 62 y; females: 65 y
  LE, Australia (AUS)- males: 79 y; females: 84 y
• Cambodian Healthy Life Expectancy at birth (HALE)-
  males: 46 y; females: 48 y

  By comparison:

  HALE, SEAR- males: 54 y; females: 55 y
  HALE, AUS- males: 71 y; females: 74 y

Mortality

• Cambodian Infant Mortality Rate (IMR): 98.0 deaths before the age of one year per 1000 live births, a 23% increase on the 1995 figure (80 / 1000)

  By comparison:

  IMR, SEAR: 51 / 1000
  IMR, Australia: 5 / 1000
• Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR): 490 maternal deaths per 100 000 live births

  By comparison:

  MMR, SEAR: 460 / 100 000 live births
  Australia: 6 / 100 000 live births
• Infant and child mortality rates are 30% and 43% higher respectively in rural than urban areas; rates are inversely proportional to the level of maternal education (DHS 2005)
• Cambodia's overall Under Five Mortality Rate (U5MR) in 2005 was 143 deaths in children aged under five years of age for every 1000 live births, giving the country the 25th worst ranking in the world. This represents a 25% increase on the figure for 1995 (115 / 1000) (UNICEF 2007)
• The U5MR is significantly higher in rural than urban Cambodia: U5MR urban: 92.6 / 1000
  U5MR rural: 126 / 1000 (WHO 2007)
  Phnom Penh Province: 52 / 1000 (DHS 2005)

Morbidity

• Prevalence of acute respiratory infection (ARI) in under fives:
  Urban: 5.9%
  Rural: 9.1% (DHS 2005)
• Percentage of children with ARI taken to a health facility: 34.5% (WHO 2007)
• Cambodian children aged under five who are stunted for age: 49.2%

  By comparison:

  SEAR under five stunting: 41.6% (WHO 2007)
  Over 50% of children are stunted in provinces: Ratanakiri, Mondulkiri, Siem Reap, and Pursat (UNWFP 2005)

HIV

• Estimated adult (15 years and above) prevalence rate 2005:
  1468 / 100 000 people

  By comparison:

  SEAR Adult HIV prevalence: 605 / 100 000
  Australian Adult HIV prevalence: 99 / 100 000 (WHO 2007)
• Estimated number of people (all ages) living with HIV, 2005: 130 000 (low estimate: 74 000; high estimate: 210 000)(UNICEF 2007)

Health Expenditure and Resources

• Government expenditure on health is an estimated $US4.09 per capita (DHS 2005)
• For every dollar spent on healthcare, the Cambodian Government contributes 25.8 cents (cf: SEAR average: 27.3c; Australia: 67.5c) (WHO 2007)
• Estimated number of medical doctors: 2047
  Ratio- doctor: 1000 population: 0.16

  By comparison:

  SEAR: 0.52 / 1000
  Australia: 2.47 /1000
  Estimated number of nurses: 8085
  Ratio- nurse: 1000 population: 0.61

  By comparison:

  SEAR: 0.81 / 1000
  Australia: 9.10 / 1000
• Estimated number of hospital beds per 10 000 population: 6

  For comparison:

  SEAR: 9 / 10 000
  Australia: 40 / 10 000

Child Vulnerability and Exploitation

• Number of orphans aged 0 to 17 years throughout Cambodia:
  470 000
• Cambodia has one of the world's highest rates of child labour, with an estimated Child Economic Activity Rate (CEAR, ie: percentage of children involved in economic activity) of 52.3% (Cambodia Child Labour Survey 2001)
• It is reported that as many a one third of all sex workers in Cambodia are children (End Child Prostitution, Abuse and Trafficking in Cambodia 2008)

Literacy and Education.

• Forty five percent of females and 29% of males are illiterate
• Almost half of all boys and two thirds of all girls do not complete primary school (USAID 2005)

References

Cambodia Child Labour Survey 2001, Reading Online, retrieved 3 June 2007,
http://www.ilo.org/ipecinfo/product/viewProduct.do;jsessionid=0a038009ce99afa
620fff56438f9a59bfe7718e0de5?productId=402

Democratic and Health Survey 2005, Reading Online, retrieved 1 June 2007,
http://www.measuredhs.com/pubs/pdf/FR185/FR185.pdf

End Child Prostitution, Abuse and Trafficking in Cambodia 2008, Reading Online, retrieved 25 February 2008,
http://www.ecpatcambodia.org/index1.php?pn=3

Human Development Report 2006, Reading Online, retrieved 1 June 2007,
http://hdr.undp.org/hdr2006/statistics/countries/data_sheets/cty_ds_KHM.html

The World Bank 2005, Quality Basic Education for All, Reading Online, retrieved 10 June 2007,
http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTEAPREGTOPEDUCATION/Resources/cam
bodia_efa_jan05.pdf

UNHCHR 1989, Reading Online, retrieved 5 June 2007,
http://www.unhchr.ch/html/menu3/b/k2crc.htm

UNICEF 2005, Reading Online, retrieved 5 June 2007,
http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/cambodia_statistics.html

UNICEF 2007, Reading Online, retrieved 15 June 2007,
http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/cambodia_statistics.html

UNWFP 2005, Reading Online, retrieved 15 June 2007,
http://www.methodfinder.com/wfpatlas/index.php?page=03&lang=e&PHPSESSID=
ecef58a96b154ba9d36b504a506d050c

USAID 2005, Reading Online, retrieved 25 May 2007,
http://www.usaid.gov/kh/development_challenge.htm

WHO 2007, Reading Online, retrieved 25 May 2007,
http://www.who.int/countries/khm/en/