Mali People - 2023
SOURCE: 2023 CIA WORLD FACTBOOK
Population
21,359,722 (2023 est.)
Nationality
noun: Malian(s)
adjective: Malian
Ethnic groups
Bambara 33.3%, Fulani (Peuhl) 13.3%, Sarakole/Soninke/Marka 9.8%, Senufo/Manianka 9.6%, Malinke 8.8%, Dogon 8.7%, Sonrai 5.9%, Bobo 2.1%, Tuareg/Bella 1.7%, other Malian 6%, from members of Economic Community of West Africa 0.4%, other 0.3% (2018 est.)
Languages
French (official), Bambara 46.3%, Peuhl/Foulfoulbe/Fulani 9.4%, Dogon 7.2%, Maraka/Soninke 6.4%, Malinke 5.6%, Sonrhai/Djerma 5.6%, Minianka 4.3%, Tamacheq 3.5%, Senoufo 2.6%, Bobo 2.1%, other 6.3%, unspecified 0.7% (2009 est.)
note: Mali has 13 national languages in addition to its official language
Religions
Muslim 93.9%, Christian 2.8%, animist 0.7%, none 2.5% (2018 est.)
Demographic profile
Mali’s total population is expected to double by 2035; its capital Bamako is one of the fastest-growing cities in Africa. A young age structure, a declining mortality rate, and a sustained high total fertility rate of 5.5 children per woman – the fourth highest in the world, as of 2022 – ensure continued rapid population growth for the foreseeable future. Significant outmigration only marginally tempers this growth. Despite decreases, Mali’s infant, child, and maternal mortality rates remain among the highest in Sub-Saharan Africa because of limited access to and adoption of family planning, early childbearing, short birth intervals, the prevalence of female genital cutting, infrequent use of skilled birth attendants, and a lack of emergency obstetrical and neonatal care.
Mali’s high total fertility rate has been virtually unchanged for decades, as a result of the ongoing preference for large families, early childbearing, the lack of female education and empowerment, poverty, and extremely low contraceptive use. Slowing Mali’s population growth by lowering its birth rate will be essential for poverty reduction, improving food security, and developing human capital and the economy.
Mali has a long history of seasonal migration and emigration driven by poverty, conflict, demographic pressure, unemployment, food insecurity, and droughts. Many Malians from rural areas migrate during the dry period to nearby villages and towns to do odd jobs or to adjoining countries to work in agriculture or mining. Pastoralists and nomads move seasonally to southern Mali or nearby coastal states. Others migrate long term to Mali’s urban areas, Cote d’Ivoire, other neighboring countries, and in smaller numbers to France, Mali’s former colonial ruler. Since the early 1990s, Mali’s role has grown as a transit country for regional migration flows and illegal migration to Europe. Human smugglers and traffickers exploit the same regional routes used for moving contraband drugs, arms, and cigarettes.
Between early 2012 and 2013, renewed fighting in northern Mali between government forces and Tuareg secessionists and their Islamist allies, a French-led international military intervention, as well as chronic food shortages, caused the displacement of hundreds of thousands of Malians. Most of those displaced domestically sought shelter in urban areas of southern Mali, except for pastoralist and nomadic groups, who abandoned their traditional routes, gave away or sold their livestock, and dispersed into the deserts of northern Mali or crossed into neighboring countries. Almost all Malians who took refuge abroad (mostly Tuareg and Maure pastoralists) stayed in the region, largely in Mauritania, Niger, and Burkina Faso.
Age structure
0-14 years: 47.05% (male 5,054,927/female 4,995,605)
15-64 years: 49.88% (male 5,006,470/female 5,647,289)
65 years and over: 3.07% (2023 est.) (male 323,170/female 332,261)
Dependency ratios
total dependency ratio: 99.3
youth dependency ratio: 94.5
elderly dependency ratio: 4.9
potential support ratio: 20.6 (2021 est.)
Median age
total: 16 years
male: 15.3 years
female: 16.7 years (2020 est.)
Population growth rate
2.93% (2023 est.)
Birth rate
40.54 births/1,000 population (2023 est.)
Death rate
8.3 deaths/1,000 population (2023 est.)
Net migration rate
-2.99 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2023 est.)
Population distribution
the overwhelming majority of the population lives in the southern half of the country, with greater density along the border with Burkina Faso as shown in this population distribution map
Urbanization
urban population: 46.2% of total population (2023)
rate of urbanization: 4.57% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)
Major urban areas - population
2.929 million BAMAKO (capital) (2023)
Sex ratio
at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female
0-14 years: 1.01 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.89 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.97 male(s)/female
total population: 0.95 male(s)/female (2023 est.)
Mother's mean age at first birth
19.2 years (2018 est.)
note: data represents median age at first birth among women 20-49
Maternal mortality ratio
440 deaths/100,000 live births (2020 est.)
Infant mortality rate
total: 58.99 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 64.31 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 53.5 deaths/1,000 live births (2023 est.)
Life expectancy at birth
total population: 62.81 years
male: 60.56 years
female: 65.13 years (2023 est.)
Total fertility rate
5.45 children born/woman (2023 est.)
Gross reproduction rate
2.68 (2023 est.)
Contraceptive prevalence rate
17.2% (2018)
Drinking water source
improved: urban: 99.9% of population
rural: 75.9% of population
total: 86.4% of population
unimproved: urban: 0.1% of population
rural: 24.1% of population
total: 13.6% of population (2020 est.)
Current health expenditure
4.3% of GDP (2020)
Physicians density
0.13 physicians/1,000 population (2018)
Hospital bed density
0.1 beds/1,000 population
Sanitation facility access
improved: urban: 85.7% of population
rural: 44.7% of population
total: 62.7% of population
unimproved: urban: 14.3% of population
rural: 55.3% of population
total: 37.3% 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
aerosolized dust or soil contact diseases: Lassa fever
note: on 22 March 2023, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a Travel Alert for polio in Africa; Mali 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
8.6% (2016)
Alcohol consumption per capita
total: 0.6 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
beer: 0.09 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: 0.49 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
Tobacco use
total: 8.3% (2020 est.)
male: 15.6% (2020 est.)
female: 1% (2020 est.)
Children under the age of 5 years underweight
18.1% (2019)
Currently married women (ages 15-49)
77.9% (2023 est.)
Child marriage
women married by age 15: 15.9%
women married by age 18: 53.7%
men married by age 18: 2.1% (2018 est.)
Education expenditures
4.4% of GDP (2021 est.)
Literacy
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 35.5%
male: 46.2%
female: 25.7% (2018)
School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education)
total: 7 years
male: 8 years
female: 7 years (2017)
Youth unemployment rate (ages 15-24)
total: 17.3%
male: 15.4%
female: 19.8% (2021 est.)
NOTE: The information regarding Mali 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 Mali 2023 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Mali 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.