Cambodia's population grows 8.5% in 10 years to top 13 million.

PHNOM PENH, Sept. 3 Kyodo

Cambodia's population has increased by nearly 2 million over the past decade to reach 13.4 million, according to the government's provisional census data released Wednesday.

The census data, collected in February, put the population at 13,388,910, for an increase of 1.95 million or 8.54 percent since 1998 when the country had 11,437,656 people.

Cambodia's first census, which was held in 1962, had put the population then at 5.7 million. The next census was not until 36 years later.

The country's annual population growth rate during the last decade averaged 1.54 percent, higher than the average growth rate of 1.3 percent for Southeast Asia as a whole.

Population density during the same period increased from 64 to 75 people per square kilometer, significantly lower than the current average of 126 for Southeast Asia as a whole.