Senegal People - 2023

Population

18,384,660 (2023 est.)

Nationality

noun: Senegalese (singular and plural)

adjective: Senegalese

Ethnic groups

Wolof 39.7%, Pular 27.5%, Serer 16%, Mandinka 4.9%, Jola 4.2%, Soninke 2.4%, other 5.4% (includes Europeans and persons of Lebanese descent) (2019 est.)

Languages

French (official), Wolof, Pular, Jola, Mandinka, Serer, Soninke

Religions

Muslim 97.2% (most adhere to one of the four main Sufi brotherhoods), Christian 2.7% (mostly Roman Catholic) (2019 est.)

Demographic profile

Senegal has a large and growing youth population but has not been successful in developing its potential human capital. Senegal’s high total fertility rate of almost 4.5 children per woman continues to bolster the country’s large youth cohort – more than 60% of the population is under the age of 25. Fertility remains high because of the continued desire for large families, the low use of family planning, and early childbearing. Because of the country’s high illiteracy rate (more than 40%), high unemployment (even among university graduates), and widespread poverty, Senegalese youths face dim prospects; women are especially disadvantaged.

Senegal historically was a destination country for economic migrants, but in recent years West African migrants more often use Senegal as a transit point to North Africa – and sometimes illegally onward to Europe. The country also has been host to several thousand black Mauritanian refugees since they were expelled from their homeland during its 1989 border conflict with Senegal. The country’s economic crisis in the 1970s stimulated emigration; departures accelerated in the 1990s. Destinations shifted from neighboring countries, which were experiencing economic decline, civil wars, and increasing xenophobia, to Libya and Mauritania because of their booming oil industries and to developed countries (most notably former colonial ruler France, as well as Italy and Spain). The latter became attractive in the 1990s because of job opportunities and their periodic regularization programs (legalizing the status of illegal migrants).

Age structure

0-14 years: 41.19% (male 3,858,937/female 3,714,062)

15-64 years: 55.46% (male 4,925,324/female 5,271,627)

65 years and over: 3.34% (2023 est.) (male 266,485/female 348,225)

Dependency ratios

total dependency ratio: 81.5

youth dependency ratio: 75.8

elderly dependency ratio: 5.7

potential support ratio: 17.4 (2021 est.)

Median age

total: 19.4 years

male: 18.5 years

female: 20.3 years (2020 est.)

Population growth rate

2.52% (2023 est.)

Birth rate

30.84 births/1,000 population (2023 est.)

Death rate

5 deaths/1,000 population (2023 est.)

Net migration rate

-0.69 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2023 est.)

Population distribution

the population is concentrated in the west, with Dakar anchoring a well-defined core area; approximately 70% of the population is rural as shown in this population distribution map

Urbanization

urban population: 49.6% of total population (2023)

rate of urbanization: 3.59% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)

Major urban areas - population

3.340 million DAKAR (capital) (2023)

Sex ratio

at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female

0-14 years: 1.04 male(s)/female

15-64 years: 0.93 male(s)/female

65 years and over: 0.77 male(s)/female

total population: 0.97 male(s)/female (2023 est.)

Mother's mean age at first birth

21.9 years (2019 est.)

note: data represents median age at first birth among women 25-49

Maternal mortality ratio

261 deaths/100,000 live births (2020 est.)

Infant mortality rate

total: 31.75 deaths/1,000 live births

male: 35.05 deaths/1,000 live births

female: 28.28 deaths/1,000 live births (2023 est.)

Life expectancy at birth

total population: 70.25 years

male: 68.52 years

female: 72.08 years (2023 est.)

Total fertility rate

4.17 children born/woman (2023 est.)

Gross reproduction rate

2.03 (2023 est.)

Contraceptive prevalence rate

26.9% (2019)

Drinking water source

improved: urban: 95.9% of population

rural: 79.3% of population

total: 87.3% of population

unimproved: urban: 4.1% of population

rural: 20.7% of population

total: 12.7% of population (2020 est.)

Current health expenditure

5.2% of GDP (2020)

Physicians density

0.09 physicians/1,000 population (2019)

Sanitation facility access

improved: urban: 94.1% of population

rural: 55.5% of population

total: 74.1% of population

unimproved: urban: 5.9% of population

rural: 44.5% of population

total: 25.9% of population (2020 est.)

Major infectious diseases

degree of risk: very high (2023)

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

vectorborne diseases: malaria and dengue fever

water contact diseases: schistosomiasis

animal contact diseases: rabies

respiratory diseases: meningococcal meningitis

note: on 22 March 2023, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a Travel Alert for polio in Africa; Senegal is currently considered a high risk to travelers for circulating vaccine-derived polioviruses (cVDPV); vaccine-derived poliovirus (VDPV) is a strain of the weakened poliovirus that was initially included in oral polio vaccine (OPV) and that has changed over time and behaves more like the wild or naturally occurring virus; this means it can be spread more easily to people who are unvaccinated against polio and who come in contact with the stool or respiratory secretions, such as from a sneeze, of an “infected” person who received oral polio vaccine; the CDC recommends that before any international travel, anyone unvaccinated, incompletely vaccinated, or with an unknown polio vaccination status should complete the routine polio vaccine series; before travel to any high-risk destination, the CDC recommends that adults who previously completed the full, routine polio vaccine series receive a single, lifetime booster dose of polio vaccine

Obesity - adult prevalence rate

8.8% (2016)

Alcohol consumption per capita

total: 0.25 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)

beer: 0.21 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)

wine: 0.02 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)

spirits: 0.02 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)

other alcohols: 0 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)

Tobacco use

total: 6.9% (2020 est.)

male: 13.1% (2020 est.)

female: 0.7% (2020 est.)

Children under the age of 5 years underweight

14.4% (2019)

Currently married women (ages 15-49)

65.3% (2023 est.)

Child marriage

women married by age 15: 8.8%

women married by age 18: 30.5%

men married by age 18: 0.7% (2019 est.)

Education expenditures

5.5% of GDP (2020 est.)

Literacy

definition: age 15 and over can read and write

total population: 56.3%

male: 68.4%

female: 45.4% (2021)

School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education)

total: 9 years

male: 8 years

female: 10 years (2021)

Youth unemployment rate (ages 15-24)

total: 5%

male: 3.5%

female: 7.5% (2021 est.)