Demographics of Senegal


This article is about the demographic features of the population of Senegal, including population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population.
About 42% of Senegal's population is rural. In rural areas, population density varies from about 77 per square kilometer in the west-central region to 2 per square kilometer in the arid eastern section. The average population density for the country is 68 people per square kilometer. French is the official language but is used regularly only by the literate minority. Almost all Senegalese speak an indigenous language, of which Wolof has the largest usage. Many Senegalese live in Europe, particularly in France, Italy and Spain.

Population

According to the 2018 revision of the World Population Review the total population was 16,302,789 in May 2018, compared to only 2,416,000 in 1950. The proportion of children below the age of 15 in 2017 was 41.5%, between 15 and 54 years of age was 31.1%, while 55 years or older was 6.9%.
Total populationPopulation aged 0–14 Population aged 15–64 Population aged 65+
19502,416,00041.655.03.4
19552,684,00041.555.62.9
19603,048,00041.955.52.6
19653,505,00043.054.62.4
19704,096,00044.353.52.3
19754,786,00045.352.52.2
19805,414,00047.250.52.2
19856,232,00047.750.02.3
19907,242,00047.250.42.4
19958,369,00046.251.32.5
20009,506,00045.452.12.5
200510,872,00044.453.12.5
201012,434,00043.753.92.4
201714,668,52241.555.52.9

Vital statistics

Registration of vital events in Senegal is not complete. The Population Department of the United Nations prepared the following estimates.
Births and deaths
YearPopulationLive birthsDeathsNatural increaseCrude birth rateCrude death rateRate of natural increaseTFR
2009498 714138 182360 53241,011,429,64,91
2010456 212132 218323 99436,510,625,94,86
2011464 464134 450330 01436,210,525,7
2012471 629135 468336 16135,710,325,5
201312 874 000478 898136 460342 43835,310,125,2

Fertility and births

and Crude Birth Rate :
YearCBR TFR CBR TFR CBR TFR
1980-827,46,37,9
1983-856,65,47,1
1992-9340,86,03 37,45,06 42,96,74
1997375,67 314,29 426,74
1999365,2303,9406,1
200539,35,3 33,44,1 44,06,4
2008–200937,34,933,44,040,15,8
2010–201137,45,0 32,33,9 41,66,0
2012–201338,65,332,94,142,76,3
201437,65,0 33,44,0 41,66,3
201535.74.9 28.13.5 41.56.1
201634.64.7 27.23.5 40.85.9
201733.74.6 27.13.4 39.25.9
201832.74.4 27.23.2 37.05.5

Fertility data by region :
RegionTotal fertility rate
Total fertility rate
Total fertility rate
Dakar3.73.73.0
Thiès5.44.84.6
Diourbel6.25.25.8
Kaolack5.96.05.2
Kaffrine6.56.2
Louga5.64.85.1
Fatick6.86.35.2
Ziguinchor5.04.84.6
Sédhiou6.96.4
Kolda6.36.85.5
Matam3.75.45.3
Saint-Louis5.35.04.7
Kédougou6.16.4
Tambacounda6.26.05.8

Life expectancy

Ethnic groups

Languages

, Wolof, Pulaar, Serer, Jola, Mandinka, Soninke

Religion

The religion beliefs of the 2016 population of Senegal are: Muslim 96.1%, Christian 3.6%, animist 0.3%.

Other general statistics

The following demographic statistics of Senegal are from the World Population Review.
The following demographic are from the CIA World Factbook unless otherwise indicated.

Population

Age structure

Median age

Birth rate

Death rate

[Total fertility rate]

Population growth rate

Mother's mean age at first birth

note: median age at first birth among women 25-29

Contraceptive prevalence rate

Net migration rate

[Dependency ratio]s

Urbanization

Life expectancy at birth

Religions

Muslim 95.9%, Christian 4.1%

Urbanization

Maternal mortality ratio

Drinking water source

;improved:
;unimproved:

Literacy

definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 51.9%
male: 64.8%
female: 39.8%

[School life expectancy] (primary to tertiary education)

Unemployment, youth ages 15-24

Gender ratio

Emigration

Senegal aforetime was a destination country for neighboring economic migrants, but in recent decades West African migrants more often use Senegal as a transit point to North Africa and also to illegally onward to Europe. The country also has been host to several thousand black Mauritanian refugees since they were expelled from Mauritania during the 1989 border conflict with Senegal. The country’s economic crisis in the 1970s stimulated emigration; departures accelerated from the 1990s. Destinations shifted from neighboring countries to Libya and Mauritania, because of their booming oil industries, and to France, Italy and Spain.