Djibouti People - 2022
SOURCE: 2022 CIA WORLD FACTBOOK
Population
957,273 (2022 est.)
Nationality
noun: Djiboutian(s)
adjective: Djiboutian
Ethnic groups
Somali 60%, Afar 35%, other 5% (mostly Yemeni Arab, also French, Ethiopian, and Italian)
Languages
French (official), Arabic (official), Somali, Afar
Religions
Sunni Muslim 94% (nearly all Djiboutians), other 6% (mainly foreign-born residents - Shia Muslim, Christian, Hindu, Jewish, Baha'i, and atheist)
Demographic profile
Djibouti is a poor, predominantly urban country, characterized by high rates of illiteracy, unemployment, and childhood malnutrition. More than 75% of the population lives in cities and towns (predominantly in the capital, Djibouti). The rural population subsists primarily on nomadic herding. Prone to droughts and floods, the country has few natural resources and must import more than 80% of its food from neighboring countries or Europe. Health care, particularly outside the capital, is limited by poor infrastructure, shortages of equipment and supplies, and a lack of qualified personnel. More than a third of health care recipients are migrants because the services are still better than those available in their neighboring home countries. The nearly universal practice of female genital cutting reflects Djibouti’s lack of gender equality and is a major contributor to obstetrical complications and its high rates of maternal and infant mortality. A 1995 law prohibiting the practice has never been enforced.
Because of its political stability and its strategic location at the confluence of East Africa and the Gulf States along the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea, Djibouti is a key transit point for migrants and asylum seekers heading for the Gulf States and beyond. Each year some hundred thousand people, mainly Ethiopians and some Somalis, journey through Djibouti, usually to the port of Obock, to attempt a dangerous sea crossing to Yemen. However, with the escalation of the ongoing Yemen conflict, Yemenis began fleeing to Djibouti in March 2015, with almost 20,000 arriving by August 2017. Most Yemenis remain unregistered and head for Djibouti City rather than seeking asylum at one of Djibouti’s three spartan refugee camps. Djibouti has been hosting refugees and asylum seekers, predominantly Somalis and lesser numbers of Ethiopians and Eritreans, at camps for 20 years, despite lacking potable water, food shortages, and unemployment.
Age structure
0-14 years: 29.97% (male 138,701/female 137,588)
15-24 years: 20.32% (male 88,399/female 98,955)
25-54 years: 40.73% (male 156,016/female 219,406)
55-64 years: 5.01% (male 19,868/female 26,307)
65 years and over: 3.97% (male 16,245/female 20,319) (2020 est.)
Dependency ratios
total dependency ratio: 50.6
youth dependency ratio: 47.5
elderly dependency ratio: 6.9
potential support ratio: 14.4 (2021 est.)
Median age
total: 24.9 years
male: 23 years
female: 26.4 years (2020 est.)
Population growth rate
1.97% (2022 est.)
Birth rate
22.25 births/1,000 population (2022 est.)
Death rate
7.12 deaths/1,000 population (2022 est.)
Net migration rate
4.59 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2022 est.)
Population distribution
most densely populated areas are in the east; the largest city is Djibouti, with a population over 600,000; no other city in the country has a total population over 50,000 as shown in this population distribution map
Urbanization
urban population: 78.6% of total population (2023)
rate of urbanization: 1.56% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)
Major urban areas - population
591,000 DJIBOUTI (capital) (2022)
Sex ratio
at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female
0-14 years: 1.01 male(s)/female
15-24 years: 0.9 male(s)/female
25-54 years: 0.7 male(s)/female
55-64 years: 0.72 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.65 male(s)/female
total population: 0.83 male(s)/female (2022 est.)
Maternal mortality ratio
248 deaths/100,000 live births (2017 est.)
Infant mortality rate
total: 46.89 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 54.14 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 39.43 deaths/1,000 live births (2022 est.)
Life expectancy at birth
total population: 65.3 years
male: 62.72 years
female: 67.96 years (2022 est.)
Total fertility rate
2.15 children born/woman (2022 est.)
Contraceptive prevalence rate
19% (2012)
Drinking water source
improved: urban: 99.7% of population
rural: 59.3% of population
total: 90.8% of population
unimproved: urban: 0.3% of population
rural: 40.7% of population
total: 9.2% of population (2020 est.)
Current health expenditure
1.8% of GDP (2019)
Physicians density
0.22 physicians/1,000 population (2014)
Hospital bed density
1.4 beds/1,000 population (2017)
Sanitation facility access
improved: urban: 87.7% of population
rural: 24.2% of population
total: 73.8% of population
unimproved: urban: 12.3% of population
rural: 75.8% of population
total: 26.2% of population (2020 est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate
0.7% (2021 est.)
Major infectious diseases
degree of risk: high (2020)
food or waterborne diseases: bacterial and protozoal diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever
vectorborne diseases: dengue fever
note: on 21 March 2022, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a Travel Alert for polio in Africa; Djibouti 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
13.5% (2016)
Alcohol consumption per capita
total: 0.21 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
beer: 0.05 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
wine: 0.02 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
spirits: 0.14 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
other alcohols: 0 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
Children under the age of 5 years underweight
29.9% (2012)
Education expenditures
3.6% of GDP (2018 est.)
Literacy
total population: NA
male: NA
female: NA
School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education)
total: 7 years
male: 7 years
female: 7 years (2011)
Youth unemployment rate (ages 15-24)
total: 73%
male: 72%
female: 74.6% (2017)
NOTE: The information regarding Djibouti on this page is re-published from the 2022 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency and other sources. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Djibouti 2022 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Djibouti 2022 should be addressed to the CIA or the source cited on each page.
This page was last modified 01 Dec 23, Copyright © 23 ITA all rights reserved.