Some 2.80 per cent of the country's total population is disabled, according to a latest survey conducted by the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS).
Of them, 41.09 per cent are physically or mentally challenged by birth while the remaining 58.91 per cent had been affected by accident or by illness, showed the survey results published on Tuesday.
The National Survey on Person with Disabilities (NSPD) 2021 was conducted across the country.
Some 36.35 per cent of the total disabled are for illness, 12.27 per cent for falling down from the rooftops and trees, and 5.53 per cent for road accidents.
In terms of getting education, the disabled persons are 2.38 years behind other students across the country, the NSPD survey showed.
Among the disabled population, 32.60 per cent could get formal education while the rest did not get the opportunity. The disabled persons in rural areas are higher than the urban areas.
Some 2.89 per cent people out of the country's total population in rural areas are disabled while 2.45 per cent in urban areas, the survey showed.
Presided over by the BBS Director General Md Matiur Rahman, the NSPD publication ceremony was addressed by Statistics and Informatics Secretary Dr Shahnaj Arefin, DG of the Social Services Department.