Gambia The People - 2023
SOURCE: 2023 CIA WORLD FACTBOOK
Population
2,468,569 (2023 est.)
Nationality
noun: Gambian(s)
adjective: Gambian
Ethnic groups
Mandinka/Jahanka 33.3%, Fulani/Tukulur/Lorobo 18.2%, Wolof 12.9%, Jola/Karoninka 11%, Serahuleh 7.2%, Serer 3.5%, other 4%, non-Gambian 9.9% (2019-20 est.)
Languages
English (official), Mandinka, Wolof, Fula, other indigenous vernaculars
Religions
Muslim 96.4%, Christian 3.5%, other or none 0.1% (2019-20 est.)
Demographic profile
The Gambia’s youthful age structure – approximately 55% of the population is under the age of 25 as of 2021 – is likely to persist because the country’s total fertility rate remains strong at nearly 4 children per woman. The overall literacy rate is around 50%, and is significantly lower for women than for men. At least 70% of the populace are farmers who are reliant on rain-fed agriculture and cannot afford improved seeds and fertilizers. Crop failures caused by droughts between 2011 and 2013 increased poverty, food shortages, and malnutrition.
The Gambia is a source country for migrants and a transit and destination country for migrants and refugees. Since the 1980s, economic deterioration, drought, and high unemployment, especially among youths, have driven both domestic migration (largely urban) and migration abroad (legal and illegal). Emigrants are largely skilled workers, including doctors and nurses, and provide a significant amount of remittances. The top receiving countries for Gambian emigrants are Spain, the US, Nigeria, Senegal, and the UK. While the Gambia and Spain do not share historic, cultural, or trade ties, rural Gambians have migrated to Spain in large numbers because of its proximity and the availability of jobs in its underground economy (this flow slowed following the onset of Spain’s late 2007 economic crisis).
The Gambia’s role as a host country to refugees is a result of wars in several of its neighboring West African countries. Since 2006, refugees from the Casamance conflict in Senegal have replaced their pattern of flight and return with permanent settlement in The Gambia, often moving in with relatives along the Senegal-Gambia border. The strain of providing for about 7,400 Casamance refugees increased poverty among Gambian villagers. The number of refugees decreased to around 3,500 by 2022.
Age structure
0-14 years: 38.86% (male 484,113/female 475,134)
15-64 years: 57.57% (male 700,049/female 721,057)
65 years and over: 3.57% (2023 est.) (male 38,954/female 49,262)
Dependency ratios
total dependency ratio: 85
youth dependency ratio: 80.5
elderly dependency ratio: 4.5
potential support ratio: 22.2 (2021 est.)
Median age
total: 21.8 years
male: 21.5 years
female: 22.2 years (2020 est.)
Population growth rate
2.23% (2023 est.)
Birth rate
28.03 births/1,000 population (2023 est.)
Death rate
5.71 deaths/1,000 population (2023 est.)
Net migration rate
-0.04 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2023 est.)
Population distribution
settlements are found scattered along the Gambia River; the largest communities, including the capital of Banjul, and the country's largest city, Serekunda, are found at the mouth of the Gambia River along the Atlantic coast as shown in this population distribution map
Urbanization
urban population: 64.5% of total population (2023)
rate of urbanization: 3.75% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)
Major urban areas - population
481,000 BANJUL (capital) (2023)
note: includes the local government areas of Banjul and Kanifing
Sex ratio
at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female
0-14 years: 1.02 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.97 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.79 male(s)/female
total population: 0.98 male(s)/female (2023 est.)
Mother's mean age at first birth
20.7 years (2019/20 est.)
note: data represents median age at first birth among women 25-49
Maternal mortality ratio
458 deaths/100,000 live births (2020 est.)
Infant mortality rate
total: 36.44 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 39.92 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 32.86 deaths/1,000 live births (2023 est.)
Life expectancy at birth
total population: 67.98 years
male: 66.26 years
female: 69.75 years (2023 est.)
Total fertility rate
3.66 children born/woman (2023 est.)
Gross reproduction rate
1.8 (2023 est.)
Contraceptive prevalence rate
18.9% (2019/20)
Drinking water source
improved: urban: 91.8% of population
rural: 85.7% of population
total: 89.5% of population
unimproved: urban: 8.2% of population
rural: 14.3% of population
total: 10.5% of population (2020 est.)
Current health expenditure
2.6% of GDP (2020)
Physicians density
0.08 physicians/1,000 population (2020)
Hospital bed density
1.1 beds/1,000 population (2011)
Sanitation facility access
improved: urban: 75.8% of population
rural: 33.6% of population
total: 60% of population
unimproved: urban: 24.2% of population
rural: 66.4% of population
total: 40% 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
respiratory diseases: meningococcal meningitis
note: on 22 March 2023, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a Travel Alert for polio in Africa; The Gambia 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
10.3% (2016)
Alcohol consumption per capita
total: 2.67 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
beer: 0.21 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
wine: 0 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
spirits: 0.02 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
other alcohols: 2.44 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
Tobacco use
total: 11.1% (2020 est.)
male: 21.4% (2020 est.)
female: 0.8% (2020 est.)
Children under the age of 5 years underweight
11.6% (2019/20)
Currently married women (ages 15-49)
60.9% (2023 est.)
Child marriage
women married by age 15: 7.5%
women married by age 18: 25.7%
men married by age 18: 0.2% (2020 est.)
Education expenditures
2.8% of GDP (2020 est.)
Literacy
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 58.1%
male: 65.2%
female: 51.2% (2021)
Youth unemployment rate (ages 15-24)
total: 15.5%
male: 11.4%
female: 20.5% (2021 est.)
NOTE: The information regarding Gambia The 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 Gambia The 2023 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Gambia The 2023 should be addressed to the CIA or the source cited on each page.
This page was last modified 06 Dec 23, Copyright © 2023 ITA all rights reserved.