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The data does not account for individuals who carry multiple SIM cards or those who left the city earlier in the week
Published : 30 Mar 2025, 11:29 PM
In the span of just two days, approximately 4.1 million mobile phone users have departed Dhaka to celebrate Eid-ul-Fitr in towns and villages, according to data released by the government.
Faiz Ahmad Taiyeb, special assistant to the chief advisor for the telecommunications ministry, shared the figure in a social media post on Sunday.
"As per mobile SIM mobility, around 4.1 million users have left Dhaka in the last two days [Friday and Saturday],” his post read.
The relevant data was later shared by Press Secretary Shafiqul Alam on his official Facebook page.
Per the data, on Mar 28, an estimated 1.9 million SIM subscribers from the country’s four leading mobile operators—Grameenphone, Robi, Banglalink, and Teletalk—left Dhaka, while 812,332 SIM users arrived in the capital.
The following day, another 2.2 million SIM users exited the city, with 588,004 returning.In total, 4,094,621 mobile subscribers left Dhaka over the two-day period, while 1,400,336 entered.
The figures, however, do not capture the full extent of holiday travel.
Children without mobile phones, who comprise about 30.8 percent of the population according to the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics, are not included in the tally.
Nor does the data account for individuals who carry multiple SIM cards or those who left the city earlier in the week.
Dhaka, with an estimated population of 21 million according to the World Population Review, typically sees over 10 million residents travel to their hometowns for Eid.
The government declared Mar 31 as an official holiday for Eid-ul-Fitr, supplementing an extended break that includes Mar 29, 30, Apr 1, and 2 under an executive order.
Mar 28, falling on a Friday, served as the unofficial start of the exodus, with public offices set to resume operations on Apr 6 following a nine-day closure.
