The duel
Land
Size, shape and altitude
How big is it, really?
The Netherlands fits inside Bangladesh 3.6 times
Bangladesh: 147,570 km² (2024) · Netherlands: 41,540 km² (2024)
How much coast is there?
Bangladesh’s coastline is 29% longer than the Netherlands’
Bangladesh: 580 km (2026 edition) · Netherlands: 451 km (2026 edition)
How high can you climb?
Bangladesh’s highest peak towers 198 m above the Netherlands’
Bangladesh: 1,060 m (2026 edition) · Netherlands: 862 m (2026 edition)
How much of the land is farmed?
Farmland covers 72% of Bangladesh, versus 53% of the Netherlands
Bangladesh: 72.2% (2024) · Netherlands: 53.4% (2024)
People
Who lives there, and how closely
How many people live there?
Bangladesh has 9.7 times as many people as the Netherlands
Bangladesh: 176 million (2025) · Netherlands: 18.1 million (2025)
How crowded is it?
Bangladesh is 2.5 times as densely populated as the Netherlands
Bangladesh: 1,350 per km² (2025) · Netherlands: 537 per km² (2025)
How tall are the men?
Men in the Netherlands are 18.7 cm taller than in Bangladesh
Bangladesh: 165.1 cm (2019) · Netherlands: 183.8 cm (2019)
How tall are the women?
Women in the Netherlands are 18.0 cm taller than in Bangladesh
Bangladesh: 152.4 cm (2019) · Netherlands: 170.4 cm (2019)
How old is the typical person?
The typical person in the Netherlands is 16 years older than in Bangladesh
Bangladesh: 25.3 years (2023) · Netherlands: 41.4 years (2023)
How many children per woman?
Women in Bangladesh have 0.7 more children on average than in the Netherlands
Bangladesh: 2.14 children per woman (2024) · Netherlands: 1.43 children per woman (2024)
How many people are 65 or older?
21% of people in the Netherlands are 65 or older, versus 6.7% in Bangladesh
Bangladesh: 6.7% (2025) · Netherlands: 20.9% (2025)
How many refugees does it host?
The Netherlands hosts 2.3 times as many refugees per resident as Bangladesh
Bangladesh: 6.7 per 1,000 (2025) · Netherlands: 15.7 per 1,000 (2025)
How many Nobel laureates were born there?
The Netherlands has produced 11.1 Nobel laureates per 10 million people, Bangladesh 0.1
Bangladesh: 0.1 (2026) · Netherlands: 11.1 (2026)
How many official languages?
Bangladesh and the Netherlands are practically level
Bangladesh: 1 (2026) · Netherlands: 1 (2026)
Money
What an economy looks like per person
How big is the economy?
The Netherlands’ economy is 2.9 times the size of Bangladesh’s
Bangladesh: $456 billion (2025) · Netherlands: $1.33 trillion (2025)
How much is produced per person?
The Netherlands produces 8.6 times as much per person as Bangladesh
Bangladesh: Int$10,154 (2025) · Netherlands: Int$87,320 (2025)
How evenly is income shared?
Income is more unequally shared in Bangladesh than in the Netherlands (Gini 5.2 points higher)
Bangladesh: 30.9 (2022) · Netherlands: 25.7 (2021)
How many live on less than $3 a day?
5.9% of people in Bangladesh live on less than $3 a day, versus 0.1% in the Netherlands
Bangladesh: 5.9% (2022) · Netherlands: 0.1% (2021)
How many people are looking for work?
The Netherlands and Bangladesh are practically level
Bangladesh: 3.8% (2025) · Netherlands: 3.9% (2025)
How much goes to the military?
The Netherlands spends 2.2% of its GDP on the military, Bangladesh 0.8%
Bangladesh: 0.8% (2025) · Netherlands: 2.2% (2025)
How much does the central government collect in tax?
The Netherlands’ central government collects 25% of GDP in tax, Bangladesh’s 7.6%
Bangladesh: 7.6% (2021) · Netherlands: 25.3% (2024)
How expensive is it?
The Netherlands’ price level (US = 100) is 3.3× Bangladesh’s
Bangladesh: 26% (2025) · Netherlands: 84% (2025)
Health
Long lives, small beginnings
How much is spent on health?
The Netherlands spends 128 times as much on health per person as Bangladesh
Bangladesh: $53 (2023) · Netherlands: $6,845 (2024)
How long do people live?
People in the Netherlands live 7 years longer than in Bangladesh
Bangladesh: 74.9 years (2024) · Netherlands: 82 years (2024)
How many babies don’t reach their first birthday?
A baby in Bangladesh is 7.2 times as likely to die before turning one as in the Netherlands
Bangladesh: 24.4 per 1,000 (2024) · Netherlands: 3.4 per 1,000 (2024)
How many doctors are there?
The Netherlands has 5.4 times as many doctors per person as Bangladesh
Bangladesh: 0.7 per 1,000 (2023) · Netherlands: 3.9 per 1,000 (2022)
How many hospital beds are there?
The Netherlands has 2.6 times as many hospital beds per person as Bangladesh
Bangladesh: 0.9 per 1,000 (2023) · Netherlands: 2.4 per 1,000 (2022)
How common is suicide?
The suicide rate in the Netherlands is 2.1 times that in Bangladesh
Bangladesh: 4.5 per 100k (2023) · Netherlands: 9.6 per 100k (2023)
How common is obesity?
17% of adults in the Netherlands are obese, versus 5.7% in Bangladesh
Bangladesh: 5.7% (2024) · Netherlands: 16.9% (2024)
How many adults smoke?
32% of adults in Bangladesh smoke, versus 21% in the Netherlands
Bangladesh: 32% (2024) · Netherlands: 20.5% (2024)
Everyday life
Plates, glasses and happiness
How do people rate their lives?
People in the Netherlands rate their lives 2.90 points higher than in Bangladesh
Bangladesh: 4.32 (2025) · Netherlands: 7.22 (2025)
How much do people drink?
Adults in the Netherlands drink 2,939 times as much alcohol as in Bangladesh
Bangladesh: 0.0029 litres (2023) · Netherlands: 8.6 litres (2023)
How much meat is on the menu?
The Netherlands has 16 times as much meat per person as Bangladesh
Bangladesh: 4.5 kg (2023) · Netherlands: 71.6 kg (2023)
How much food is there per day?
The Netherlands has 879 kcal more food per person per day than Bangladesh
Bangladesh: 2,588 kcal (2023) · Netherlands: 3,467 kcal (2023)
How long do people work?
Workers in Bangladesh put in 944 more hours a year than in the Netherlands
Bangladesh: 2,383 hours (2023) · Netherlands: 1,439 hours (2023)
How long do people go to school?
Adults in the Netherlands went to school 5.9 years longer than in Bangladesh
Bangladesh: 6.8 years (2023) · Netherlands: 12.7 years (2023)
How many tourists visit?
The Netherlands welcomed 463 times as many tourists per resident as Bangladesh (2019)
Bangladesh: 0.002 (2019) · Netherlands: 0.91 (2022)
How many World Heritage sites?
The Netherlands has 10 more World Heritage sites than Bangladesh (13 against 3)
Bangladesh: 3 (2026) · Netherlands: 13 (2026)
How many Olympic medals has it won?
The Netherlands has won 524 Olympic medals, Bangladesh none
Bangladesh: 0 (2026 edition) · Netherlands: 524 (2026 edition)
Connected
Online, electrified, urban
How many people are online?
97% of people in the Netherlands are online, versus 53% in Bangladesh
Bangladesh: 53% (2024) · Netherlands: 97% (2024)
How fast is home internet?
Home internet in the Netherlands is 3.8 times as fast as in Bangladesh
Bangladesh: 86 Mbps (2026) · Netherlands: 324 Mbps (2026)
Who has electricity at home?
100% of people in the Netherlands have electricity, versus 100% in Bangladesh
Bangladesh: 99.5% (2024) · Netherlands: 100% (2024)
How many live in cities?
96% of people in the Netherlands live in cities, versus 33% in Bangladesh
Bangladesh: 33% (2025) · Netherlands: 96% (2025)
How many phones per person?
The Netherlands has 129 mobile subscriptions per 100 people, Bangladesh 108
Bangladesh: 108 (2024) · Netherlands: 129 (2024)
How much railway is there?
The Netherlands’ railway network is 6% longer than Bangladesh’s
Bangladesh: 2,877 km (2019) · Netherlands: 3,041 km (2021)
How much do they fly?
Airlines from the Netherlands fly 61 times as many passengers per resident as those from Bangladesh
Bangladesh: 0.04 (2023) · Netherlands: 2.29 (2023)
Planet
Air, forests and energy
How much of the land is forest?
Forest covers 14% of Bangladesh, but only 11% of the Netherlands
Bangladesh: 14.4% (2024) · Netherlands: 11% (2024)
How much CO₂ does each person emit?
The average person in the Netherlands emits 10 times as much CO₂ as someone in Bangladesh
Bangladesh: 0.6 t (2024) · Netherlands: 6.3 t (2024)
How green is the power grid?
51% of the Netherlands’ electricity is renewable, versus 2.1% in Bangladesh
Bangladesh: 2.1% (2025) · Netherlands: 51.2% (2025)
How clean is the air?
The air in Bangladesh carries 6.8 times as much fine dust as in the Netherlands
Bangladesh: 65 µg/m³ (2024) · Netherlands: 9.6 µg/m³ (2024)
Safety
Measured risk, not vibes
How common is murder?
You are 3.4 times as likely to be murdered in Bangladesh as in the Netherlands
Bangladesh: 2.3 per 100k (2018) · Netherlands: 0.7 per 100k (2023)
How dangerous are the roads?
Roads in Bangladesh are 6.8 times as deadly as in the Netherlands
Bangladesh: 34.5 per 100k (2023) · Netherlands: 5.1 per 100k (2023)
Climate
What the year feels like
How warm is it?
Bangladesh is on average 14.6 °C warmer than the Netherlands
Bangladesh: 25.8°C (2016–2025 avg) · Netherlands: 11.2°C (2016–2025 avg)
How much rain falls?
Bangladesh gets 2.4 times as much rain as the Netherlands
Bangladesh: 2,096 mm (2016–2025 avg) · Netherlands: 887 mm (2016–2025 avg)
Between them
People, goods and passports that cross from one to the other
Quick answers
Is Bangladesh bigger than the Netherlands?
Bangladesh is larger. The Netherlands fits inside Bangladesh 3.6 times.
Which has more people, Bangladesh or the Netherlands?
Bangladesh has 9.7 times as many people as the Netherlands (2025 estimates).
Where do people live longer, Bangladesh or the Netherlands?
People in the Netherlands live 7 years longer than in Bangladesh. Life expectancy at birth is 74.9 years in Bangladesh and 82.0 in the Netherlands.
Are people taller in Bangladesh or the Netherlands?
Men in the Netherlands are 18.7 cm taller than in Bangladesh (NCD-RisC, cohort born 2019).
