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 ...

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 ...

, 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 others aspects of the

Ethnic groups

Zambia is one of the most highly urbanised countries in sub-Saharan Africa with 44% of the population concentrated in a few urban areas along the major transport corridors, while rural areas are sparsely populated.

's population comprises more than 72

Bantu Bantu may refer to: *Bantu languages, constitute the largest sub-branch of the Niger–Congo languages *Bantu peoples, over 400 peoples of Africa speaking a Bantu language * Bantu knots, a type of African hairstyle * Black Association for Nationa ...

-speaking

ethnic An ethnic group or an ethnicity is a grouping of people A person ( : people) is a being that has certain capacities or attributes such as reason, morality, consciousness or self-consciousness, and being a part of a culturally established fo ...

groups. Some ethnic groups are small, and only two have enough people to constitute at least 10% of the population. The majority of Zambians are

subsistence farmers Subsistence agriculture occurs when farmers grow food crops to meet the needs of themselves and their families on smallholdings. Subsistence agriculturalists target farm output for survival and for mostly local requirements, with little or no s ...

, but the country is also fairly

urbanised 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 the ...

, with 42% of the population being

city A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

residents. The predominant

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 ...

is a blend of traditional beliefs and

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global popula ...

Immigrant Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, ...

s, mostly

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, ...

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 ...

n, as well as some white Zambian citizens (about 40,000), live mainly in

Lusaka Lusaka (; ) is the capital and largest city of Zambia. It is one of the fastest-developing cities in southern Africa. Lusaka is in the southern part of the central plateau at an elevation of about . , the city's population was about 3.3 millio ...

and in the

Copperbelt The Copperbelt () is a natural region in Central Africa which sits on the border region between northern Zambia and the southern Democratic Republic of Congo. It is known for copper mining. Traditionally, the term ''Copperbelt'' includes the ...

in northern Zambia, where they are either employed in mines, financial and related activities or retired. Zambia also has a small but economically important Asian population, most of whom are Indians or Chinese. . Zambia also has a small coloured population of mixed racial heritage, not included officially on the census since independence.

2010 census

Source:

Population

According to the total population of Zambia is in , compared to only 2,340,000 in 1950. The proportion of children below the age of 15 in 2010 was 46.4%, 50.6% was between 15 and 65 years of age, while 3.1% was 65 years or older. Population Estimates by Sex and Age Group (01.VII.2020):

Vital statistics

Registration of vital events is in Zambia not complete. The website

Our World in Data Our World in Data (OWID) is a scientific online publication that focuses on large global problems such as poverty, disease, hunger, climate change, war, existential risks, and inequality. It is a project of the Global Change Data Lab, a re ...

prepared the following estimates based on statistics from the Population Department of 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 ...

Fertility and births

Total Fertility Rate (TFR) (Wanted TFR) and Crude Birth Rate (CBR) : Fertility data as of 2013-2014 (DHS Program):

Fertility rate by religion

At national level, the TFR was highest among women with no religious affiliation at 6.5. Among the women with religious affiliation Protestants had the highest TFR of 6.0, followed by Muslims with 5.9 and Catholics with 5.7.

Life expectancy

Other demographic statistics

The following demographic statistics of Zambia in 2022 are from the World Population Review. *One birth every 47 seconds *One death every 4 minutes *One net migrant every 65 minutes *Net gain of one person every 57 seconds 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.Zambia: People
''CIA World Factbook'', 2022

Population

:19,642,123 (2022 est.) :16,445,079 (July 2018 est.)

Age structure

Zambia single age population pyramid 2020

:''0-14 years:'' 45.74% (male 4,005,134/female 3,964,969) :''15-24 years:'' 20.03% (male 1,744,843/female 1,746,561) :''25-54 years:'' 28.96% (male 2,539,697/female 2,506,724) :''55-64 years:'' 3.01% (male 242,993/female 280,804) :''65 years and over:'' 2.27% (male 173,582/female 221,316) (2020 est.) :''0-14 years:'' 45.95% (male 3,796,548 /female 3,759,624) :''15-24 years:'' 20% (male 1,643,364 /female 1,645,713) :''25-54 years:'' 28.79% (male 2,384,765 /female 2,349,877) :''55-64 years:'' 2.95% (male 225,586 /female 260,252) :''65 years and over:'' 2.31% (male 166,224 /female 213,126) (2018 est.)

Religions

Protestant 75.3%, Roman Catholic 20.2%, other 2.7% (includes Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu, and Baha'i), none 1.8% (2010 est.)

Birth rate

:34.86 births/1,000 population (2022 est.) Country comparison to the world: 17th :41.1 births/1,000 population (2018 est.) Country comparison to the world: 6th

Death rate

:6.12 deaths/1,000 population (2022 est.) Country comparison to the world: 152nd :12 deaths/1,000 population (2018 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 ...

:4.56 children born/woman (2022 est.) Country comparison to the world: 18th :5.58 children born/woman (2018 est.) Country comparison to the world: 8th

Population growth rate

:2.9% (2022 est.) Country comparison to the world: 12nd :2.91% (2018 est.) Country comparison to the world: 10th

Median age

:total: 16.9 years. Country comparison to the world: 220th :male: 16.7 years :female: 17 years (2020 est.) :total: 16.8 years. Country comparison to the world: 222nd :male: 16.7 years :female: 16.9 years (2018 est.) :''total:'' 17.2 years :''male:'' 17.1 years :''female:'' 17.3 years (2010 est.) :''total:'' 16.5 years :''male:'' 16.4 years :''female:'' 16.6 years (2002 est.)

Mother's mean age at first birth

:19.2 years (2018 est.) :note: median age at first birth among women 20-49

Net migration rate

:0.24 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2022 est.) Country comparison to the world: 77th

Contraceptive prevalence rate

:49.6% (2018) :49% (2013/14)

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: 91.9 (2015 est.) :youth dependency ratio: 87.1 (2015 est.) :elderly dependency ratio: 4.8 (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 ...

: 20.8 (2015 est.)

Population distribution

:one of the highest levels of urbanization in Africa; high density in the central area, particularly around the cities of Lusaka, Ndola, Kitwe, and Mufulira

Urbanization

:urban population: 45.8% of total population (2022) :rate of urbanization: 4.15% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.) :urban population: 43.5% of total population (2018) :rate of urbanization: 4.23% annual rate of change (2015-20 est.)

Major infectious diseases

:degree of risk: very 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

:''at birth:'' 1.03 male(s)/female :''under 15 years:'' 1.01 male(s)/female :''15-64 years:'' 1.01 male(s)/female :''65 years and over:'' 0.68 male(s)/female :''total population:'' 1 male(s)/female (2010 est.)

Life expectancy at birth

:total population: 66.26 years. Country comparison to the world: 197th :male: 64.52 years :female: 68.06 years (2022 est.) :total population: 53 years :male: 51.4 years :female: 54.7 years (2018 est.) :''total population:'' 52.7 years :''male:'' 51.1 years :''female:'' 54.4 years (2017 est.) :''total population:''37.24 years :''male:''37.08 years :''female:''37.41 years (2000 est.)

Education expenditures

:4.5% of GDP (2019) Country comparison to the world: 85th

Nationality

:''noun:''Zambian(s) :''adjective:''Zambian

Demographic profile

Zambia's youthful population consists primarily of Bantu-speaking people representing nearly 70 different ethnicities. Zambia's high fertility rate continues to drive rapid population growth, averaging almost 3 percent annually between 2000 and 2010. The country's total fertility rate has fallen by less than 1.5 children per woman during the last 30 years and still averages among the world's highest, almost 6 children per woman, largely because of the country's lack of access to family planning services, education for girls, and employment for women. Zambia also exhibits wide fertility disparities based on rural or urban location, education, and income. Poor, uneducated women from rural areas are more likely to marry young, to give birth early, and to have more children, viewing children as a sign of prestige and recognizing that not all of their children will live to adulthood.

Languages

:Bemba 33.4%, Nyanja 14.7%, Tonga 11.4%, Lozi 5.5%, Chewa 4.5%, Nsenga 2.9%, Tumbuka 2.5%, Lunda (North Western) 1.9%, Kaonde 1.8%, Lala 1.8%, Lamba 1.8%, English (official) 1.7%, Luvale 1.5%, Mambwe 1.3%, Namwanga 1.2%, Lenje 1.1%, Bisa 1%, other 9.7%, unspecified 0.2% (2010 est.) :note: Zambia is said to have over 70 languages, although many of these may be considered dialects; all of Zambia's major languages are members of the Bantu family

Literacy

definition: age 15 and over can read and write :total population: 86.7% :male: 90.6% :female: 83.1% (2018) :''total population:'' 63.4% :''male:'' 70.9% :''female:'' 56% (2015 est.)

Unemployment, youth ages 15-24

:total: 30.1% :male: 32.1% :female: 27.6% (2019 est.) :total: 15.2% :male: 14.6% :female: 15.8% (2012 est.)

References

{{Africa in topic, Demographics of

Ethnic groups

2010 census

Population

Vital statistics

Fertility and births

Fertility rate by religion

Life expectancy

Other demographic statistics

Population

Age structure

Religions

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

Median age

Mother's mean age at first birth

Net migration rate

Contraceptive prevalence 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

Population distribution

Urbanization

Major infectious diseases

Sex ratio

Life expectancy at birth

Education expenditures

Nationality

Demographic profile

Languages

Literacy

Unemployment, youth ages 15-24

See also

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