Demographics of Djibouti

Demographics of {{{place}}}
Population	810,178 (2014)
Growth rate	2.23% (2014)
Birth rate	25.27 births/1,000 population (2011 est.)
Death rate	8.23 deaths/1,000 population (July 2011 est.)
Life expectancy	62.4 years (2014)
• male	59.93 years
• female	64.94 years
Fertility rate	2.79 children born/woman (2010)
Infant mortality rate	53.31 deaths/1,000 infants (2012 est.)
Age structure
0–14 years	35% (male 132,592/female 132,114)
15–64 years	61.7% (male 206,323/female 260,772)
65 and over	3.3% (male 11,349/female 13,924)
Sex ratio
At birth	1.03 male(s)/female
Under 15	1 male(s)/female
15–64 years	0.8 male(s)/female
65 and over	0.81 male(s)/female
Nationality
Nationality	Djiboutian
Major ethnic	Somali 60% Afar 35%
Minor ethnic	French Arab Ethiopian Total 5%
Language
Spoken	Arabic (official), French (official), Somali and Afar

This article is about the demographics of Djibouti, including population density, ethnicity, education level, health, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population.

Ethnic groups

Djibouti is a multiethnic country. The two largest ethnic groups are the Somali (60%) and the Afar (35%). The Somali clan component is mainly composed of the Issas, in addition to smaller numbers of Gadabuursi. Both are sub-clans of the larger Dir; the Issas form part of the Madoobe Dir, while the Gadabuursi are part of the Madaluug Dir. The remaining 5% of Djibouti's population primarily consists of Arabs, Ethiopians and Europeans (French and Italians). Most local residents are urban dwellers; the remainder are pastoralists.

Languages

Main article: Languages of Djibouti

Djibouti is a multilingual nation. According to Ethnologue, the majority of the population speaks Somali (297,000 speakers) or Afar (99,200 speakers) as a first language, which are the mother tongues of the Somali and Afar ethnic groups, respectively. Both languages belong to the larger Afro-Asiatic family. There are two official languages in Djibouti: Arabic (Afro-Asiatic) and French (Indo-European). Arabic is of social, cultural and religious importance. In formal settings, it consists of Modern Standard Arabic. Colloquially, about 36,000 local residents speak the Ta'izzi-Adeni Arabic dialect, also known as Djibouti Arabic. French was inherited from the colonial period and is the primary language of instruction. About 10,200 Djiboutians speak it as a first language. Immigrant languages include Omani Arabic (38,900 speakers), Amharic (1,400 speakers), Greek (1,000 speakers) and Hindi (600 speakers).

Population

According to the 2010 revision of the UN's World Population Prospects, the total population was 889,000 in 2010 compared to 62,000 in 1950. The proportion of children below the age of 15 in 2010 was 35.8%, 60.9% was between 15 and 65 years of age, while 3.3% was 65 years or older.

	Total population (x 1000)	Population aged 0–14 (%)	Population aged 15–64 (%)	Population aged 65+ (%)
1950	62	46.8	51.2	2.0
1955	70	46.0	52.0	2.0
1960	85	45.4	52.5	2.0
1965	117	44.9	53.0	2.0
1970	162	45.8	52.2	2.1
1975	224	45.9	52.0	2.1
1980	340	45.3	52.5	2.2
1985	403	44.6	53.1	2.3
1990	562	44.2	53.4	2.4
1995	627	43.4	54.1	2.5
2000	732	41.3	55.9	2.7
2005	808	38.5	58.5	3.0
2010	889	35.8	60.9	3.3

Projections

The following are UN medium variant projections; numbers are in thousands:

• 2015 975
• 2020 1,065
• 2025 1,166
• 2030 1,262
• 2035 1,356
• 2040 1,447
• 2045 1,535
• 2050 1,619

Vital statistics

Registration of vital events in Djibouti is incomplete. The Population Department of the United Nations prepared the following estimates.

Period	Live births per year	Deaths per year	Natural change per year	CBR*	CDR*	NC*	TFR*	IMR*
1950-1955	3 000	2 000	1 000	50.0	28.3	21.7	7.80	222
1955-1960	4 000	2 000	2 000	50.7	25.7	25.0	7.80	203
1960-1965	5 000	2 000	3 000	51.2	23.8	27.4	7.80	185
1965-1970	7 000	3 000	4 000	50.3	21.6	28.6	7.60	169
1970-1975	9 000	4 000	5 000	47.8	19.4	28.4	7.20	154
1975-1980	13 000	5 000	8 000	45.2	17.4	27.8	6.80	141
1980-1985	16 000	6 000	11 000	44.0	15.5	28.6	6.60	125
1985-1990	21 000	7 000	14 000	43.1	14.5	28.6	6.40	117
1990-1995	24 000	8 000	16 000	40.1	13.4	26.7	5.85	109
1995-2000	23 000	8 000	15 000	34.4	12.2	22.2	5.11	100
2000-2005	24 000	9 000	15 000	31.2	11.3	19.9	4.52	91
2005-2010	25 000	9 000	16 000	29.4	10.5	18.9	3.95	82
* CBR = crude birth rate (per 1000); CDR = crude death rate (per 1000); NC = natural change (per 1000); IMR = infant mortality rate per 1000 births; TFR = total fertility rate (number of children per woman)

Births and deaths

Year	Population	Live births	Deaths	Natural increase	Crude birth rate	Crude death rate	Rate of natural increase	TFR
2009		9 853	1 082	8 771
2010		10 538	1 051	9 487
2011		10 871	1 011	9 860

Demographic statistics

The following demographic statistics are from the CIA World Factbook, unless otherwise indicated.

Population

810,179 (July 2014 est.)

Median age

Total: 22.8 years
Male: 21.1 years
Female: 24.1 years (2014 est.)

Population growth rate

2.23% (2014 est.)

Urbanization

urban population: 77.1% of total population (2011)

rate of urbanization: 1.96% annual rate of change (2010-15 est.)

Major cities - population

DJIBOUTI (capital) 496,000 (2011)

Sex ratio

at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female

under 15 years: 1 male(s)/female

15-24 years: 0.89 male(s)/female

25-54 years: 0.71 male(s)/female

55-64 years: 0.85 male(s)/female

65 years and over: 0.82 male(s)/female

total population: 0.86 male(s)/female (2014 est.)

Life expectancy at birth

Total population: 62.4 years
Male: 59.93 years
Female: 64.94 years (2014 est.)

HIV/AIDS

adult prevalence rate: 1.2% (2012 est.)

people living with HIV/AIDS: 7,700 (2012 est.)

deaths: 800 (2012 est.)

Major infectious diseases

degree of risk: high

food or waterborne diseases: bacterial and protozoal diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever

vectorborne disease: dengue fever

note: highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza has been identified in this country; it poses a negligible risk with extremely rare cases possible among US citizens who have close contact with birds (2013)

Nationality

Djiboutien or Djiboutian

Ethnic groups

Somali 60%, Afar 35%, French and Italians, Arab, Ethiopian 5%

Religions

Muslim 98%, Christian 2% (Catholic 0.9%, other denomination 1.1%) Hindu 0.02%

Languages

Main article: Languages of Djibouti

French (official), Arabic (official), Somali, Afar

Literacy

definition: age 15 and over can read and write

total population: 67.9%

male: 60%

female: 58.4% (2003 est.)

See also

• Djibouti

 This article incorporates public domain material from The World Factbook (2024 ed.). CIA. (Archived 2006 edition.)