Burundi Index

Burundi People - 2023

SOURCE: 2023 CIA WORLD FACTBOOK

Nationality

noun: Burundian(s)

adjective: Burundian

Kirundi (official), French (official), English (official, least spoken), Swahili (2008 est.)

major-language sample(s):
Igitabo Mpuzamakungu c'ibimenyetso bifatika, isoko ntabanduka ku nkuru z'urufatiro. (Kirundi)

The World Factbook, the indispensable source for basic information.

note: data represent languages read and written by people 10 years of age or older; spoken Kirundi is nearly universal

Religions

Roman Catholic 58.6%, Protestant 35.3% (includes Adventist 2.7% and other Protestant 32.6%), Muslim 3.4%, other 1.3%, none 1.3% (2016-17 est.)

Demographic profile

Burundi is a densely populated country with a high population growth rate, factors that combined with land scarcity and poverty place a large share of its population at risk of food insecurity. About 90% of the population relies on subsistence agriculture. Subdivision of land to sons, and redistribution to returning refugees, results in smaller, overworked, and less-productive plots. Food shortages, poverty, and a lack of clean water contribute to a 60% chronic malnutrition rate among children. A lack of reproductive health services has prevented a significant reduction in Burundi’s maternal mortality and fertility rates, which are both among the world’s highest. With almost two-thirds of its population under the age of 25 and a birth rate of about 5 children per woman as of 2022, Burundi’s population will continue to expand rapidly for decades to come, putting additional strain on a poor country.

Historically, migration flows into and out of Burundi have consisted overwhelmingly of refugees from violent conflicts. In the last decade, more than a half million Burundian refugees returned home from neighboring countries, mainly Tanzania. Reintegrating the returnees has been problematic due to their prolonged time in exile, land scarcity, poor infrastructure, poverty, and unemployment. Repatriates and existing residents (including internally displaced persons) compete for limited land and other resources. To further complicate matters, international aid organizations reduced their assistance because they no longer classified Burundi as a post-conflict country. Conditions deteriorated when renewed violence erupted in April 2015, causing another outpouring of refugees. In addition to refugee out-migration, Burundi has hosted thousands of refugees from neighboring countries, mostly from the Democratic Republic of the Congo and lesser numbers from Rwanda.

Age structure

0-14 years: 42.67% (male 2,830,996/female 2,786,154)

15-64 years: 54.03% (male 3,523,380/female 3,588,511)

65 years and over: 3.3% (2023 est.) (male 187,176/female 246,735)

Dependency ratios

total dependency ratio: 95.2

youth dependency ratio: 90.4

elderly dependency ratio: 4.8

potential support ratio: 20.7 (2021 est.)

Median age

total: 17.7 years

male: 17.4 years

female: 18 years (2020 est.)

Population growth rate

3.59% (2023 est.)

Birth rate

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

Death rate

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

Net migration rate

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

Population distribution

one of Africa's most densely populated countries; concentrations tend to be in the north and along the northern shore of Lake Tanganyika in the west; most people live on farms near areas of fertile volcanic soil as shown in this population distribution map

Urbanization

urban population: 14.8% of total population (2023)

rate of urbanization: 5.43% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)

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

Major urban areas - population

1.207 million BUJUMBURA (capital) (2023)

Sex ratio

at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female

0-14 years: 1.02 male(s)/female

15-64 years: 0.98 male(s)/female

65 years and over: 0.76 male(s)/female

total population: 0.99 male(s)/female (2023 est.)

Mother's mean age at first birth

21.5 years (2016/17 est.)

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

Maternal mortality ratio

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

Infant mortality rate

total: 36.75 deaths/1,000 live births

male: 40.86 deaths/1,000 live births

female: 32.52 deaths/1,000 live births (2023 est.)

Life expectancy at birth

total population: 67.77 years

male: 65.65 years

female: 69.95 years (2023 est.)

Total fertility rate

4.96 children born/woman (2023 est.)

Gross reproduction rate

2.45 (2023 est.)

Contraceptive prevalence rate

28.5% (2016/17)

Drinking water source

improved: urban: 98.7% of population

rural: 78.9% of population

total: 81.6% of population

unimproved: urban: 1.3% of population

rural: 21.1% of population

total: 18.4% of population (2020 est.)

Current health expenditure

6.5% of GDP (2020)

Physicians density

0.07 physicians/1,000 population (2020)

Hospital bed density

0.8 beds/1,000 population (2014)

Sanitation facility access

improved: urban: 87.4% of population

rural: 53.7% of population

total: 58.4% of population

unimproved: urban: 12.6% of population

rural: 46.3% of population

total: 41.6% 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

note: on 22 March 2023, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a Travel Alert for polio in Africa; Burundi 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

5.4% (2016)

Alcohol consumption per capita

total: 4.07 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)

beer: 1.84 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)

wine: 0 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)

spirits: 0 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)

other alcohols: 2.23 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)

Tobacco use

total: 11.8% (2020 est.)

male: 17.4% (2020 est.)

female: 6.1% (2020 est.)

Children under the age of 5 years underweight

27% (2018/19)

Currently married women (ages 15-49)

54.1% (2023 est.)

Child marriage

women married by age 15: 2.8%

women married by age 18: 19%

men married by age 18: 1.4% (2017 est.)

Education expenditures

5% of GDP (2020 est.)

Literacy

definition: age 15 and over can read and write

total population: 74.7%

male: 81.3%

female: 68.4% (2021)

School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education)

total: 11 years

male: 11 years

female: 11 years (2018)

Youth unemployment rate (ages 15-24)

total: 3.4%

male: 4.6%

female: 2.5% (2021 est.)

NOTE: The information regarding Burundi on this page is re-published from the 2023 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency and other sources. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Burundi 2023 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Burundi 2023 should be addressed to the CIA or the source cited on each page.