This article is about the

demographic Demography () is the statistical study of populations, especially human beings. Demographic analysis examines and measures the dimensions and dynamics of populations; it can cover whole societies or groups defined by criteria such as ed ...

features of the

population Population typically refers to the number of people in a single area, whether it be a city or town, region, country, continent, or the world. Governments typically quantify the size of the resident population within their jurisdiction usi ...

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and ...

, including

population density Population density (in agriculture: standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical term.Matt RosenberPopu ...

ethnicity An ethnic group or an ethnicity is a grouping of people who identify with each other on the basis of shared attributes that distinguish them from other groups. Those attributes can include common sets of traditions, ancestry, language, history, ...

, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population.

Population

The population of Zimbabwe has grown during the 20th century in accordance with the model of a developing country with high

birth rate The birth rate for a given period is the total number of live human births per 1,000 population divided by the length of the period in years. The number of live births is normally taken from a universal registration system for births; populati ...

s and falling death rates, resulting in relatively high population growth rate (around 3% or above in the 1960s and early 1970s). After a spurt in the period 1980-1983 following independence, a decline in birth rates set in. Since 1991, however, there has been a jump in death rates from a low of 10 per 1000 in 1985 to a high of 25 per 1000 in 2002/2003. It has since subsided to just under 22 per 1000 (estimate for 2007) a little below the birth rate of around 27 per 1000. The high death rate is a result of poor medical facilities. This leads to a small natural increase of around 0.5%. Deaths due to HIV/AIDS have reduced due to improved methods of protection. However, outward migration rates of around 1.5% or more have been experienced for over a decade, therefore actual population changes are uncertain. Because of the high number of unaccounted emigrants, the recent increase of emigration and the death toll from AIDS, the total population might be declining to as low as 8 million according to some estimates.

Census data

Historical data of Southern Rhodesia

Current estimates

Based on , the population of Zimbabwe was estimated by the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoni ...

at in . About 38.9% comprised youths under 15, while another 56.9% grouped persons aged between 15 and 65 years. Only around 4.2% of citizens were apparently over 65. Population Estimates by Sex and Age Group (01.VII.2020):

Vital statistics

Registration of vital events in Zimbabwe is not complete. The Population Department of the United Nations prepared the following estimates.

Fertility and births

Total Fertility Rate (TFR) (Wanted Fertility Rate) and Crude Birth Rate (CBR): Fertility data as of 2010-2011 (DHS Program):

Life expectancy at birth

Life expectancy from 1950 to 2021 (''UN World Population Prospects''):

Ethnic groups

According to 2012 Census report, 99.6% of the population is of African origin. Of the rest of the population, the great bulk—perhaps 30,000 persons—are White Zimbabweans of European ancestry, a minority which had diminished in size prior to independence. The vast black majority has grown at a projected annual rate of 4.3% since 1980. Although present figures are difficult to ascertain, the white community once reproduced itself at an annual rate (under 1.5%) similar to that of most totals in

developed nations A developed country (or industrialized country, high-income country, more economically developed country (MEDC), advanced country) is a sovereign state that has a high quality of life, developed economy and advanced technological infrastruct ...

. Of the two major ethnolinguistic categories,

Shona Shona often refers to: * Shona people, a Southern African people * Shona language, a Bantu language spoken by Shona people today Shona may also refer to: * ''Shona'' (album), 1994 album by New Zealand singer Shona Laing * Shona (given name) * S ...

speakers formed a decisive plurality at (80<)% and occupied the eastern two-thirds of Zimbabwe.

Ndebele Ndebele may refer to: *Southern Ndebele people, located in South Africa *Northern Ndebele people, located in Zimbabwe and Botswana Languages * Southern Ndebele language, the language of the South Ndebele * Northern Ndebele language, the language ...

speakers constitute about 16%, and none of the other indigenous ethnic groups came to as much as 2% in recent decades. African speakers of nonindigenous languages included migrant workers from

Malawi Malawi (; or aláwi Tumbuka: ''Malaŵi''), officially the Republic of Malawi, is a landlocked country in Southeastern Africa that was formerly known as Nyasaland. It is bordered by Zambia to the west, Tanzania to the north and northe ...

Zambia Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most central point. Its neighbours are t ...

, and

Mozambique Mozambique (), officially the Republic of Mozambique ( pt, Moçambique or , ; ny, Mozambiki; sw, Msumbiji; ts, Muzambhiki), is a country located in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi ...

. Over 90% of White Zimbabweans are of

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

British diaspora The British diaspora consists of people of British ancestry (and their descendants) who emigrated from the United Kingdom. For the purposes of this article, the people of British Overseas Territories are not included as ''British people'' thoug ...

n origin; at various times many emigrated from

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring coun ...

and elsewhere. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, Zimbabwe (then

Southern Rhodesia Southern Rhodesia was a landlocked self-governing colony, self-governing British Crown colony in southern Africa, established in 1923 and consisting of British South Africa Company (BSAC) territories lying south of the Zambezi River. The reg ...

) received a substantial influx of emigrants from the United Kingdom—a handful previously resided in other colonies such as India, Pakistan and

Kenya ) , national_anthem = " Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

. Also represented on a much smaller scale were individuals of

Afrikaner Afrikaners () are a South African ethnic group descended from predominantly Dutch settlers first arriving at the Cape of Good Hope in the 17th and 18th centuries.Entry: Cape Colony. ''Encyclopædia Britannica Volume 4 Part 2: Brain to Cast ...

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

, and

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

origin. After

Rhodesia's Unilateral Declaration of Independence Rhodesia's Unilateral Declaration of Independence (UDI) was a statement adopted by the Cabinet of Rhodesia on 11 November 1965, announcing that Southern Rhodesia or simply Rhodesia, a British territory in southern Africa that had governed ...

in 1965,

Ian Smith Ian Douglas Smith (8 April 1919 – 20 November 2007) was a Rhodesian politician, farmer, and fighter pilot who served as Prime Minister of Rhodesia (known as Southern Rhodesia until October 1964 and now known as Zimbabwe) from 1964 to 1 ...

's administration removed technical obstacles to immigration from

southern Europe Southern Europe is the southern region of Europe. It is also known as Mediterranean Europe, as its geography is essentially marked by the Mediterranean Sea. Definitions of Southern Europe include some or all of these countries and regions: Alb ...

. A heavily urbanised

Coloured Coloureds ( af, Kleurlinge or , ) refers to members of multiracial ethnic communities in Southern Africa who may have ancestry from more than one of the various populations inhabiting the region, including African, European, and Asian. South ...

population is descended, partially, from early unions between White Rhodesian settlers and local Black African females. Many, however, can also trace their ancestry to the Dutch/Khoisan mulatto clans of the

Cape A cape is a clothing accessory or a sleeveless outer garment which drapes the wearer's back, arms, and chest, and connects at the neck. History Capes were common in medieval Europe, especially when combined with a hood in the chaperon. Th ...

. With the exception of a select few who were brought to Zimbabwe as railroad workers, most Asians in Zimbabwe arrived from India pursuing employment or

entrepreneurship Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value. With this definition, entrepreneurship is viewed as change, generally entailing risk beyond what is normally encountered in starting a business, which may include other values t ...

. An educated class, they have traditionally engaged in retail trade or manufacturing.

Languages

Zimbabwe has 16 official languages:

Chewa Chewa may refer to: *the Chewa people *the Chewa language Chewa (also known as Nyanja, ) is a Bantu language spoken in much of Southern, Southeast and East Africa, namely the countries of Malawi , where it is an official language, and Mozambiq ...

Tonga Tonga (, ; ), officially the Kingdom of Tonga ( to, Puleʻanga Fakatuʻi ʻo Tonga), is a Polynesian country and archipelago. The country has 171 islands – of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in ...

, Chibarwe, English, Kalanga, Koisan,

Nambya The Nambya people are an ethnic group of about 100,000 people, based in the north-western parts of Zimbabwe and in the north-eastern parts of Botswana . They are found around the coal mining town of Hwange, surrounding areas of the Victoria Falls a ...

, Ndau,

, Shangani,

sign language Sign languages (also known as signed languages) are languages that use the visual-manual modality to convey meaning, instead of spoken words. Sign languages are expressed through manual articulation in combination with non-manual markers. Sign ...

, Sotho,

Tswana Tswana may refer to: * Tswana people, the Bantu speaking people in Botswana, South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Zambia, and other Southern Africa regions * Tswana language, the language spoken by the (Ba)Tswana people * Bophuthatswana, the former ba ...

Venda Venda () was a Bantustan in northern South Africa, which is fairly close to the South African border with Zimbabwe to the north, while to the south and east, it shared a long border with another black homeland, Gazankulu. It is now part of t ...

Xhosa Xhosa may refer to: * Xhosa people, a nation, and ethnic group, who live in south-central and southeasterly region of South Africa * Xhosa language, one of the 11 official languages of South Africa, principally spoken by the Xhosa people See als ...

.The following languages, namely Chewa, Chibarwe, English, Kalanga, Koisan, Nambya, Ndau, Ndebele, Shangani, Shona, sign language, Sotho, Tonga, Tswana, Venda and Xhosa, are the officially recognised languages of Zimbabwe.
CONSTITUTION OF ZIMBABWE (final draft)
). English is widely used in administration, law and schools, though less than 2.5%, mainly the white and

(mixed race) minorities, consider it their native language. The rest of the population speak

(70%) and

(20%), Kalanga (2%), etc. Shona has a rich oral tradition, which was incorporated into the first Shona novel, ''Feso'' by

Solomon Mutswairo Solomon Mangwiro Mutswairo, also spelt Mutsvairo (26 April 1924 – November 2005), was a Zimbabwean novelist and poet. A member of the Zezuru people of central Zimbabwe, he wrote the first novel in the Shona language, ''Feso''. In his late y ...

, published in 1956.Mother Tongue: Interviews with Musaemura B. Zimunya and Solomon Mutswairo
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill English is spoken primarily in the cities, but less so in rural areas. Television news is broadcast in English, Shona and Ndebele though the local languages time slot falls out of prime viewing time, but radio broadcasts in English, Ndebele, Shona, Kalanga, Nambya, Venda, Suthu and Tonga. English, Ndebele and Shona are given far more airtime.

Religions

85 percent of Zimbabweans are Christian, and of that number, 61 percent regularly attend

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι� ...

churches. The largest Christian churches are Anglican, Roman Catholic, Seventh Day Adventist and Methodist. However like most former European

colonies In modern parlance, a colony is a territory subject to a form of foreign rule. Though dominated by the foreign colonizers, colonies remain separate from the administration of the original country of the colonizers, the '' metropolitan state'' ...

, Christianity is often mixed with enduring traditional beliefs. Besides Christianity,

ancestral worship The veneration of the dead, including one's ancestors, is based on love and respect for the deceased. In some cultures, it is related to beliefs that the dead have a continued existence, and may possess the ability to influence the fortune of t ...

(Amadlozi) is the most practised non-Christian

religion Religion is usually defined as a social- cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relates humanity to supernatur ...

which involves ancestor worship and spiritual intercession. Under 1% of the population is

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

, although many Zimbabweans are influenced by Abrahamic food laws.

Health

According to the

World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health. The WHO Constitution states its main objective as "the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level o ...

, the average life expectancy for men in 2006 was 37 years and for women was 34 years of age, the lowest in the world at the time. An association of doctors in Zimbabwe have made calls for President Mugabe to make moves to assist the ailing health service. Since then it has recovered, and the figures for 2010 to 2015 were 53 and 54 for men and women respectively.

Other demographic statistics

The following demographic statistics of Zimbabwe in 2022 are from the World Population Review. *One birth every 1 minutes *One death every 4 minutes *One net migrant every 7 minutes *Net gain of one person every 2 minutes The following demographic statistics are from the

CIA World Factbook ''The World Factbook'', also known as the ''CIA World Factbook'', is a reference resource produced by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) with almanac-style information about the countries of the world. The official print version is available ...

, unless otherwise indicated.Zimbabwe: People
''CIA World Factbook'', 2022

Population

:15,121,004 (2022 est.) :14,030,368 (July 2018 est.) :13,805,084 (July 2017 est.)

Religions

Protestant 74.8% (includes Apostolic 37.5%, Pentecostal 21.8%, other 15.5%), Roman Catholic 7.3%, other Christian 5.3%, traditional 1.5%, Muslim 0.5%, other 0.1%, none 10.5% (2015 est.)

Age structure

Zimbabwe single age population pyramid 2020

:''0-14 years:'' 38.32% (male 2,759,155/female 2,814,462) :''15-24 years:'' 20.16% (male 1,436,710/female 1,495,440) :''25-54 years:'' 32.94% (male 2,456,392/female 2,334,973) :''55-64 years:'' 4.07% (male 227,506/female 363,824) :''65 years and over:'' 4.52% (2020 est.) (male 261,456/female 396,396) :''0-14 years:'' 38.62% (male 2,681,192 /female 2,736,876) :''15-24 years:'' 20.42% (male 1,403,715 /female 1,461,168) :''25-54 years:'' 32.22% (male 2,286,915 /female 2,234,158) :''55-64 years:'' 4.24% (male 233,021 /female 361,759) :''65 years and over:'' 4.5% (male 255,704 /female 375,860) (2018 est.)

Median age

:total: 20.5 years. Country comparison to the world: 189th :male: 20.3 years :female: 20.6 years (2020 est.) :total: 20.2 years. Country comparison to the world: 190th :male: 19.9 years :female: 20.4 years (2018 est.)

Birth rate

:33.07 births/1,000 population (2022 est.) Country comparison to the world: 22nd :34 births/1,000 population (2018 est.) Country comparison to the world: 25th :34.2 births/1,000 population (2017 est.)

Death rate

:8.76 deaths/1,000 population (2022 est.) Country comparison to the world: 68th :9.9 deaths/1,000 population (2018 est.) Country comparison to the world: 41st :10.2 deaths/1,000 population (2017 est.)

Total fertility rate The total fertility rate (TFR) of a population is the average number of children that would be born to a woman over her lifetime if: # she were to experience the exact current age-specific fertility rates (ASFRs) through her lifetime # she were t ...

:3.89 children born/woman (2022 est.) Country comparison to the world: 30th :3.97 children born/woman (2018 est.) Country comparison to the world: 33rd :Official government fertility rates over the past decade were 3.6 (2002 Census), 3.8 (2006 survey also says women actually wanted on average 3.3 children) and 3.8 (2012 Census).

Population growth rate

:1.95% (2022 est.) Country comparison to the world: 44th :1.68% (2018 est.) Country comparison to the world: 60th :1.56% (2017 est.)

Mother's mean age at first birth

:20 years (2015 est.) :note: median age at first birth among women 25-29

Contraceptive prevalence rate

:66.8% (2015)

Net migration rate

:-4.83 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2022 est.) Country comparison to the world: 200th :-7.3 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2018 est.) Country comparison to the world: 208th :-8.5 migrants/1,000 population (2017).There is an increasing flow of Zimbabweans into South Africa and Botswana in search of better economic opportunities.

Dependency ratio The dependency ratio is an age-population ratio of those typically not in the labor force (the ''dependent'' part ages 0 to 14 and 65+) and those typically in the labor force (the ''productive'' part ages 15 to 64). It is used to measure the press ...
s

:total dependency ratio: 79.5 (2015 est.) :youth dependency ratio: 74.4 (2015 est.) :elderly dependency ratio: 5.1 (2015 est.) :

potential support ratio The potential support ratio (PSR) is the number of people age 15–64 per one older person aged 65 or older. This ratio describes the burden placed on the working population ( unemployment and children are not considered in this measure) by the n ...

: 19.7 (2015 est.)

Urbanization

:urban population: 66% of total population (2022) :rate of urbanization: 2.41% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.) :''urban population:'' 32.2% of total population (2018) :''rate of

urbanization Urbanization (or urbanisation) refers to the population shift from rural to urban areas, the corresponding decrease in the proportion of people living in rural areas, and the ways in which societies adapt to this change. It is predominantly th ...

:'' 2.19% annual rate of change (2015-20 est.)

Major infectious diseases

:degree of risk: high (2020) :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

Sex ratio

(2011 est.) : ''at birth:'' 1.03 male(s)/female : ''under 15 years:'' 1.02 male(s)/female : ''15-64 years:'' 0.92 male(s)/female : ''65 years and over:'' 0.70 male(s)/female : ''total population:'' 0.95 male(s)/female

AIDS

*Adult prevalence rate ** 13.3% (2017 est.) ** 15.3% (2007) ** 33.7% (2001 est.) ** 25% (1999 estimate). *People living with HIV/AIDS ** 1.3 million (2017 est.) ** 1.3 million (2007 est.) ** 2.3 million (2001 est.) *Deaths ** 22,000 (2017 est.) ** 140,000 (2007 est.) ** 200,000 (2001 est.) ** 160,000 annually (1999 estimate).

Life expectancy at birth

:total population: 63.32 years. Country comparison to the world: 209 :male: 61.18 years (2022 est.) :female: 65.52 years (2022 est.) :total population: 61.1 years ;male: 59 years :female: 63.2 years (2018 est.) :''total population'' 60.4 years :''male'' 58.3 years :''female'' 62.5 years (2017 est.) ''total population'' 47.55 years ''male'' 47.98 years ''female'' 47.11 years (2010 est.)

Physicians density

*0.08 physicians/1,000 population (2014)

Hospital bed density

*1.7 beds/1,000 population (2011)

Obesity - adult prevalence rate

*15.5% (2015)

Children under the age of 5 years underweight

*8.4% (2015)

Education expenditures

:3.6% of GDP (2018) Country comparison to the world: 122nd :7.5% of GDP (2014) Country comparison to the world: 10th

Literacy

''definition*'' age 15 and over can read and write English :total population: 95% :male: 96.5% :female: 90.5% (2022 est.) :''total population*'' 90.7% (2003 est.), 85% (2000 est.) :''male*'' 94.2% (2003 est.), 90% (2000 est.) :''female*'' 87.2% (2003 est.), 80% (1995 est.)

School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education)

:total: 11 years :male: 12 years :female: 11 years (2013)

Unemployment, youth ages 15-24

:total: 27.5% :male: 25% :female: 31.4% (2019 est.)

Nationality

* ''noun'': Zimbabwean(s) * ''adjective'': Zimbabwean

Ethnic groups

* African 99.4% (predominantly

;

is the second largest ethnic group) * White Zimbabweans 0.4% *Other (primarily Indian) 0.2%

Languages

(official; most widely spoken),

(official, second most widely spoken), English (official; traditionally used for official business), 13 minority languages (official; includes

Chibarwe Sena is a Bantu language spoken in the four provinces of central Mozambique (Zambezi valley): Tete, Sofala, Zambezia and Manica. There were an estimated 900,000 native Sena speakers in Mozambique in 1997, with at least 1.5 million if includin ...

, Kalanga, Koisan,

, Ndau, Shangani,

, Sotho,

, and

References

{{Africa in topic, Demographics of

Population

Census data

Historical data of Southern Rhodesia

Current estimates

Vital statistics

Fertility and births

Life expectancy at birth

Ethnic groups

Languages

Religions

Health

Other demographic statistics

Population

Religions

Age structure

Median age

Birth rate

Death rate

Total fertility rate The total fertility rate (TFR) of a population is the average number of children that would be born to a woman over her lifetime if: # she were to experience the exact current age-specific fertility rates (ASFRs) through her lifetime # she were t ...

Population growth rate

Mother's mean age at first birth

Contraceptive prevalence rate

Net migration rate

Dependency ratio The dependency ratio is an age-population ratio of those typically not in the labor force (the ''dependent'' part ages 0 to 14 and 65+) and those typically in the labor force (the ''productive'' part ages 15 to 64). It is used to measure the press ...s

Urbanization

Major infectious diseases

Sex ratio

AIDS

Life expectancy at birth

Physicians density

Hospital bed density

Obesity - adult prevalence rate

Children under the age of 5 years underweight

Education expenditures

Literacy

School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education)

Unemployment, youth ages 15-24

Nationality

Ethnic groups

Languages

References

Dependency ratio The dependency ratio is an age-population ratio of those typically not in the labor force (the ''dependent'' part ages 0 to 14 and 65+) and those typically in the labor force (the ''productive'' part ages 15 to 64). It is used to measure the press ...
s