2,284,912 (July 2021 est.)
note: estimates for this country explicitly take into account the effects of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result in lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality, higher death rates, lower population growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected
noun: Gabonese (singular and plural)
adjective: Gabonese
Gabonese-born 80.1% (includes Fang 23.2%, Shira-Punu/Vili 18.9%, Nzabi-Duma 11.3%, Mbede-Teke 6.9%, Myene 5%, Kota-Kele 4.9%, Okande-Tsogo 2.1%, Pygmy .3%, other 7.5%), Cameroonian 4.6%, Malian 2.4%, Beninese 2.1%, acquired Gabonese nationality 1.6%, Togolese 1.6%, Senegalese 1.1%, Congolese (Brazzaville) 1%, other 5.5% (includes Congolese (Kinshasa), Equatorial Guinean, Nigerian) (2012)
French (official), Fang, Myene, Nzebi, Bapounou/Eschira, Bandjabi
Roman Catholic 42.3%, Protestant 12.3%, other Christian 27.4%, Muslim 9.8%, animist 0.6%, other 0.5%, none/no answer 7.1% (2012 est.)
Gabon’s oil revenues have given it one of the highest per capita income levels in Sub-Saharan Africa, but the wealth is not evenly distributed and poverty is widespread. Unemployment is especially prevalent among the large youth population; more than 60% of the population is under the age of 25. With a fertility rate still averaging more than 4 children per woman, the youth population will continue to grow and further strain the mismatch between Gabon’s supply of jobs and the skills of its labor force.
Gabon has been a magnet to migrants from neighboring countries since the 1960s because of the discovery of oil, as well as the country’s political stability and timber, mineral, and natural gas resources. Nonetheless, income inequality and high unemployment have created slums in Libreville full of migrant workers from Senegal, Nigeria, Cameroon, Benin, Togo, and elsewhere in West Africa. In 2011, Gabon declared an end to refugee status for 9,500 remaining Congolese nationals to whom it had granted asylum during the Republic of the Congo’s civil war between 1997 and 2003. About 5,400 of these refugees received permits to reside in Gabon.
0-14 years: 36.45% (male 413,883/female 399,374)
15-24 years: 21.9% (male 254,749/female 233,770)
25-54 years: 32.48% (male 386,903/female 337,776)
55-64 years: 5.19% (male 58,861/female 56,843)
65 years and over: 3.98% (male 44,368/female 44,381) (2020 est.)
total dependency ratio: 68.9
youth dependency ratio: 62.9
elderly dependency ratio: 6
potential support ratio: 16.8 (2020 est.)
total: 21 years
male: 21.4 years
female: 20.6 years (2020 est.)
2.41% (2021 est.)
26.14 births/1,000 population (2021 est.)
5.76 deaths/1,000 population (2021 est.)
3.76 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2021 est.)
the relatively small population is spread in pockets throughout the country; the largest urban center is the capital of Libreville, located along the Atlantic coast in the northwest as shown in this population distribution map
urban population: 90.4% of total population (2021)
rate of urbanization: 2.27% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)
845,000 LIBREVILLE (capital) (2021)
at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female
0-14 years: 1.04 male(s)/female
15-24 years: 1.09 male(s)/female
25-54 years: 1.15 male(s)/female
55-64 years: 1.04 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 1 male(s)/female
total population: 1.08 male(s)/female (2020 est.)
19.6 years (2012 est.)
note: median age at first birth among women 20-49
252 deaths/100,000 live births (2017 est.)
total: 29.45 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 32.58 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 26.23 deaths/1,000 live births (2021 est.)
total population: 69.37 years
male: 67.66 years
female: 71.14 years (2021 est.)
3.36 children born/woman (2021 est.)
31.1% (2012)
improved: urban: 97% of population
rural: 68% of population
total: 93.8% of population
unimproved: urban: 0.3% of population
rural: 32% of population
total: 6.2% of population (2017 est.)
2.8% (2018)
0.68 physicians/1,000 population (2017)
6.3 beds/1,000 population (2010)
improved: urban: 77.7% of population
rural: 51.9% of population
total: 74.8% of population
unimproved: urban: 22.3% of population
rural: 48.1% of population
total: 25.2% of population (2017 est.)
3% (2020 est.)
46,000 (2020 est.)
1,100
degree of risk: very high (2020)
food or waterborne diseases: bacterial diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever
vectorborne diseases: malaria and dengue fever
water contact diseases: schistosomiasis
animal contact diseases: rabies
15% (2016)
6.4% (2012)
2.7% of GDP (2014)
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 84.7%
male: 85.9%
female: 83.4% (2018)
total: 35.7%
male: 30.5%
female: 41.9% (2010 est.)
NOTE: The information regarding Gabon on this page is re-published from the 2021 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency and other sources. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Gabon 2021 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Gabon 2021 should be addressed to the CIA or the source cited on each page.
This page was last modified 16 Dec 23, Copyright © 2023 ITA all rights reserved.