Somalia People - 2021

GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES 

Population

12,094,640 (July 2021 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

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

printed major-language sample:
Buugga Xaqiiqda Aduunka, waa laga maarmaanka macluumaadka assasiga. (Somali)

The World Factbook, the indispensable source for basic information.

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)

15-24 years: 19.81% (male 1,167,807/female 1,161,040)

25-54 years: 30.93% (male 1,881,094/female 1,755,166)

55-64 years: 4.61% (male 278,132/female 264,325)

65 years and over: 2.27% (male 106,187/female 161,242) (2020 est.)

Dependency ratios

total dependency ratio: 96.3

youth dependency ratio: 90.6

elderly dependency ratio: 5.7

potential support ratio: 17.6 (2020 est.)

Median age

total: 18.5 years

male: 18.7 years

female: 18.3 years (2020 est.)

Population growth rate

2.35% (2021 est.)

Birth rate

38.25 births/1,000 population (2021 est.)

Death rate

11.82 deaths/1,000 population (2021 est.)

Net migration rate

-2.98 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2021 est.)

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 as shown on this population distribution map

Urbanization

urban population: 46.7% of total population (2021)

rate of urbanization: 4.2% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)

total population growth rate v. urban population growth rate, 2000-2030

Major urban areas - population

2.388 million MOGADISHU (capital), 1.033 million Hargeysa (2021)

Sex ratio

at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female

0-14 years: 1 male(s)/female

15-24 years: 1.01 male(s)/female

25-54 years: 1.07 male(s)/female

55-64 years: 1.05 male(s)/female

65 years and over: 0.66 male(s)/female

total population: 1.02 male(s)/female (2020 est.)

Maternal mortality rate

829 deaths/100,000 live births (2017 est.)

Infant mortality rate

total: 88.03 deaths/1,000 live births

male: 97.71 deaths/1,000 live births

female: 78.05 deaths/1,000 live births (2021 est.)

Life expectancy at birth

total population: 55.32 years

male: 53.02 years

female: 57.7 years (2021 est.)

Total fertility rate

5.41 children born/woman (2021 est.)

Drinking water source

improved: urban: 98.1% of population

rural: 72.5% of population

total: 83.8% of population

unimproved: urban: 1.9% of population

rural: 27.5% of population

total: 16.2% of population (2017 est.)

Physicians density

0.02 physicians/1,000 population (2014)

Hospital bed density

0.9 beds/1,000 population (2017)

Sanitation facility access

improved: urban: 86.2% of population

rural: 27.1% of population

total: 53.3% of population

unimproved: urban: 13.8% of population

rural: 72.9% of population

total: 46.7% of population (2017 est.)

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate

<.1 est.>

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS

8,700 (2020 est.)

HIV/AIDS - deaths

Major infectious diseases

degree of risk: very high (2020)

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

vectorborne diseases: dengue fever, malaria, and Rift Valley fever

water contact diseases: schistosomiasis

animal contact diseases: rabies

Obesity - adult prevalence rate

8.3% (2016)

Children under the age of 5 years underweight

23% (2009)

Education expenditures

N/A

Contraceptive prevalence rate

6.9% (2018/19)

NOTE: The information regarding Somalia 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 Somalia 2021 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Somalia 2021 should be addressed to the CIA or the source cited on each page.