Population:
11,757,124
(July 2020 est.)
note: this estimate was derived from an official census taken in 1975 by the Somali Government; population counting in Somalia is complicated by the large number of nomads and by refugee movements in response to famine and clan warfare
country comparison to the world (CIA rank, may be based on non-current data):
78
[see also: Population country ranks ]
Nationality:
noun:
Somali(s)
adjective:
Somali
Ethnic groups:
Somali 85%, Bantu and other non-Somali 15% (including 30,000 Arabs)
Languages:
Somali (official, according to the 2012 Transitional Federal Charter), Arabic (official, according to the 2012 Transitional Federal Charter), Italian, English
Religions:
Sunni Muslim (Islam) (official, according to the 2012 Transitional Federal Charter)
Demographic profile:
Somalia scores very low for most humanitarian indicators, suffering from poor governance, protracted internal conflict, underdevelopment, economic decline, poverty, social and gender inequality, and environmental degradation. Despite civil war and famine raising its mortality rate, Somalia’s high fertility rate and large proportion of people of reproductive age maintain rapid population growth, with each generation being larger than the prior one. More than 60% of Somalia’s population is younger than 25, and the fertility rate is among the world’s highest at almost 6 children per woman – a rate that has decreased little since the 1970s.
A lack of educational and job opportunities is a major source of tension for Somalia’s large youth cohort, making them vulnerable to recruitment by extremist and pirate groups. Somalia has one of the world’s lowest primary school enrollment rates – just over 40% of children are in school – and one of world’s highest youth unemployment rates. Life expectancy is low as a result of high infant and maternal mortality rates, the spread of preventable diseases, poor sanitation, chronic malnutrition, and inadequate health services.
During the two decades of conflict that followed the fall of the SIAD regime in 1991, hundreds of thousands of Somalis fled their homes. Today Somalia is the world’s third highest source country for refugees, after Syria and Afghanistan. Insecurity, drought, floods, food shortages, and a lack of economic opportunities are the driving factors.
As of 2016, more than 1.1 million Somali refugees were hosted in the region, mainly in Kenya, Yemen, Egypt, Ethiopia, Djibouti, and Uganda, while more than 1.1 million Somalis were internally displaced. Since the implementation of a tripartite voluntary repatriation agreement among Kenya, Somalia, and the UNHCR in 2013, nearly 40,000 Somali refugees have returned home from Kenya’s Dadaab refugee camp – still houses to approximately 260,000 Somalis. The flow sped up rapidly after the Kenyan Government in May 2016 announced its intention to close the camp, worsening security and humanitarian conditions in receiving communities in south-central Somalia. Despite the conflict in Yemen, thousands of Somalis and other refugees and asylum seekers from the Horn of Africa risk their lives crossing the Gulf of Aden to reach Yemen and beyond (often Saudi Arabia). Bossaso in Puntland overtook Obock, Djibouti, as the primary departure point in mid-2014.
Age structure:
0-14 years: 42.38%
(male 2,488,604/female 2,493,527)
[see also: Age structure - 0-14 years country ranks ]
15-24 years: 19.81%
(male 1,167,807/female 1,161,040)
[see also: Age structure - 15-24 years country ranks ]
25-54 years: 30.93%
(male 1,881,094/female 1,755,166)
[see also: Age structure - 25-54 years country ranks ]
55-64 years: 4.61%
(male 278,132/female 264,325)
[see also: Age structure - 55-64 years country ranks ]
65 years and over: 2.27%
(male 106,187/female 161,242)
(2020 est.)
[see also: Age structure - 65 years and over country ranks ]
population pyramid:
This is the population pyramid for Somalia. A population pyramid illustrates the age and sex structure of a country's population and may provide insights about political and social stability, as well as economic development. The population is distributed along the horizontal axis, with males shown on the left and females on the right. The male and female populations are broken down into 5-year age groups represented as horizontal bars along the vertical axis, with the youngest age groups at the bottom and the oldest at the top. The shape of the population pyramid gradually evolves over time based on fertility, mortality, and international migration trends.
For additional information, please see the entry for Population pyramid on the Definitions and Notes page under the References tab.
Dependency ratios:
total dependency ratio: 97.4
(2015 est.)
[see also: Dependency ratios - total dependency ratio country ranks ]
youth dependency ratio: 92.1
(2015 est.)
[see also: Dependency ratios - youth dependency ratio country ranks ]
elderly dependency ratio: 5.3
(2015 est.)
[see also: Dependency ratios - elderly dependency ratio country ranks ]
potential support ratio: 18.8
(2015 est.)
[see also: Dependency ratios - potential support ratio country ranks ]
Median age:
total: 18.5 years
[see also: Median age - total country ranks ]
male: 18.7 years
[see also: Median age - male country ranks ]
female: 18.3 years
(2020 est.)
[see also: Median age - female country ranks ]
country comparison to the world (CIA rank, may be based on non-current data):
211
Population growth rate:
2.21%
(2020 est.)
country comparison to the world (CIA rank, may be based on non-current data):
35
[see also: Population growth rate country ranks ]
Birth rate:
38.7 births/1,000 population
(2020 est.)
country comparison to the world (CIA rank, may be based on non-current data):
11
[see also: Birth rate country ranks ]
Death rate:
12.4 deaths/1,000 population
(2020 est.)
country comparison to the world (CIA rank, may be based on non-current data):
14
[see also: Death rate country ranks ]
Net migration rate:
-3.8 migrant(s)/1,000 population
(2020 est.)
country comparison to the world (CIA rank, may be based on non-current data):
187
[see also: Net migration rate country ranks ]
Population distribution:
distribution varies greatly throughout the country; least densely populated areas are in the northeast and central regions, as well as areas along the Kenyan border; most populated areas are in and around the cities of Mogadishu, Marka, Boorama, Hargeysa, and Baidoa
Urbanization:
urban population: 45.6% of total population
(2019)
[see also: Urbanization - urban population country ranks ]
rate of urbanization: 4.23% annual rate of change
(2015-20 est.)
[see also: Urbanization - rate of urbanization country ranks ]
Major urban areas - population:
2.18 million MOGADISHU (capital)
(2019)
Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female
(2020 est.)
[see also: Sex ratio - at birth country ranks ]
0-14 years: 1 male(s)/female
(2020 est.)
[see also: Sex ratio - 0-14 years country ranks ]
15-24 years: 1.01 male(s)/female
(2020 est.)
[see also: Sex ratio - 15-24 years country ranks ]
25-54 years: 1.07 male(s)/female
(2020 est.)
[see also: Sex ratio - 25-54 years country ranks ]
55-64 years: 1.05 male(s)/female
(2020 est.)
[see also: Sex ratio - 55-64 years country ranks ]
65 years and over: 0.66 male(s)/female
(2020 est.)
[see also: Sex ratio - 65 years and over country ranks ]
total population: 101.5 male(s)/female
(2020 est.)
[see also: Sex ratio country ranks ]
Maternal mortality rate:
829 deaths/100,000 live births
(2017 est.)
country comparison to the world (CIA rank, may be based on non-current data):
6
[see also: Maternal mortality rate country ranks ]
Infant mortality rate:
total: 89.5 deaths/1,000 live births
[see also: Infant mortality rate - total country ranks ]
male: 97.8 deaths/1,000 live births
[see also: Infant mortality rate - male country ranks ]
female: 81 deaths/1,000 live births
(2020 est.)
[see also: Infant mortality rate - female country ranks ]
country comparison to the world (CIA rank, may be based on non-current data):
2
Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 54 years
[see also: Life expectancy at birth - total population country ranks ]
male: 51.8 years
[see also: Life expectancy at birth - male country ranks ]
female: 56.2 years
(2020 est.)
[see also: Life expectancy at birth - female country ranks ]
country comparison to the world (CIA rank, may be based on non-current data):
225
[See also: Healthy Life Expectancy ]
[See also: Health Performance ]
Total fertility rate:
5.51 children born/woman
(2020 est.)
country comparison to the world (CIA rank, may be based on non-current data):
9
[see also: Total fertility rate country ranks ]
Drinking water source:
improved:
urban: 69.6% of population
[see also: Drinking water source - improved - urban country ranks ]
rural: 8.8% of population
[see also: Drinking water source - improved - rural country ranks ]
total: 31.7% of population
unimproved:
urban: 30.4% of population
rural: 91.2% of population
total: 68.3% of population
(2011 est.)
Physicians density:
0.02 physicians/1,000 population
(2014)
[see also: Physicians density country ranks ]
Hospital bed density:
8.7 beds/1,000 population
(2014)
[see also: Hospital bed density country ranks ]
Sanitation facility access:
improved:
urban: 52% of population
(2011 est.)
[see also: Sanitation facility access - improved - urban country ranks ]
rural: 6.3% of population
(2011 est.)
[see also: Sanitation facility access - improved - rural country ranks ]
total: 23.6% of population
(2011 est.)
unimproved:
urban: 48% of population
(2011 est.)
rural: 93.7% of population
(2011 est.)
total: 76.4% of population
(2011 est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:
0.1%
(2018 est.)
country comparison to the world (CIA rank, may be based on non-current data):
135
[see also: HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate country ranks ]
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:
11,000
(2018 est.)
country comparison to the world (CIA rank, may be based on non-current data):
97
[see also: HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS country ranks ]
HIV/AIDS - deaths:
<1000
(2018 est.)
[see also: HIV/AIDS - deaths country ranks ]
Major infectious diseases:
degree of risk:
very high
(2016)
food or waterborne diseases:
bacterial and protozoal diarrhea, hepatitis A and E, and typhoid fever
(2016)
vectorborne diseases:
dengue fever, malaria, and Rift Valley fever
(2016)
water contact diseases:
schistosomiasis
(2016)
animal contact diseases:
rabies
(2016)
Obesity - adult prevalence rate:
8.3%
(2016)
country comparison to the world (CIA rank, may be based on non-current data):
153
[see also: Obesity - adult prevalence rate country ranks ]
Children under the age of 5 years underweight:
23%
(2009)
country comparison to the world (CIA rank, may be based on non-current data):
25
[see also: Children under the age of 5 years underweight country ranks ]
Education expenditures:
NA
[see also: Education expenditures country ranks ]
NOTE: 1) The information regarding Somalia on this page is re-published from the 2020 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency and other sources. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Somalia People 2020 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Somalia People 2020 should be addressed to the CIA or the source cited on each page.
2) The rank that you see is the CIA reported rank, which may have the following issues:
a) They assign increasing rank number, alphabetically for countries with the same value of the ranked item, whereas we assign them the same rank.
b) The CIA sometimes assigns counterintuitive ranks. For example, it assigns unemployment rates in increasing order, whereas we rank them in decreasing order.
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This page was last modified 27-Jan-20