Demographics of Tunisia


's population was estimated to be just under 10.8 million as of 2013. In the generally youthful African continent, Tunisia's population is among the most mature. This is because the government has supported a successful family planning program that has reduced the population growth rate to just over 1% per annum, contributing to Tunisia's economic and social stability. The population of Tunisia is primarily of Berber ancestral origin.
Around 98 percent of the population are Muslim. There is a Jewish population on the southern island of Djerba and Tunis. There also exists a small group of Christian adherents.

Population

Source: National Institute of Statistics and United Nations Statistics Division

Vital statistics

Current vital statistics

Structure of the population :
Age GroupMaleFemaleTotalPercent
Total5 472 3335 510 42010 982 753100
0–4505 509466 662972 1718.85
5–9440 644408 362849 0067.73
10–14407 938381 684789 6227.19
15–19421 716405 792827 5087.53
20–24459 814465 595925 4098.43
25–29449 932484 685934 6178.51
30–34477 322506 459983 7818.96
35–39397 594419 392816 9867.44
40–44357 353370 495727 8486.63
45–49331 283351 673682 9566.22
50–54324 423326 185650 6085.92
55–59268 380266 788535 1684.87
60–64212 900212 524425 4243.87
65–69127 168135 135262 3032.39
70–74107 097113 584220 6812.01
75–7981 73285 164166 8961.52
80+101 528110 241211 7691.93

Age groupMaleFemaleTotalPercent
0–141 354 0911 256 7082 610 79923.77
15–643 700 7173 809 5887 510 30568.38
65+417 525444 124861 6497.85

Population

The population of Tunisia is primarily of Berber ancestral origin. Whilst the Ottoman influence has been particularly significant in forming the Turco-Tunisian community, other peoples have also migrated to Tunisia during different periods of time, including Sub-Saharan Africans, Greeks, Romans, Phoenicians, Jews, and French settlers. The Tunisian, by 1870 the distinction between the Arabic-speaking mass and the Turkish elite had blurred and today the overwhelming majority, of about 98%, simply identify themselves collectively as Arabs. There is also a small purely Berber population located in the Dahar mountains and on the island of Djerba in the south-east and in the Khroumire mountainous region in the north-west.
From the late 19th century to after World War II, Tunisia was home to large populations of French and Italians, although nearly all of them, along with the Jewish population, left after Tunisia became independent. The history of the Jews in Tunisia goes back some 2,000 years. In 1948 the Jewish population was an estimated 105,000, but by 2013 only about 900 remained.
The first people known to history in what is now Tunisia were the Berbers. Numerous civilizations and peoples have invaded, migrated to, or have been assimilated into the population over the millennia, with influences of population from Phoenicians/Carthaginians, Romans, Vandals, Arabs, Spaniards, Ottoman Turks and Janissaries, and French. There was a continuing inflow of nomadic Arab tribes from Arabia.
After the Reconquista and expulsion of non-Christians and Moriscos from Spain, many Spanish Muslims and Jews also arrived. According to Matthew Carr, "As many as eighty thousand Moriscos settled in Tunisia, most of them in and around the capital, Tunis, which still contains a quarter known as Zuqaq al-Andalus, or Andalusia Alley."

Life expectancy

Source: UN World Population Prospects

Genetics

While most modern day Tunisians identify as Arabs, Tunisian ancestry is mainly derived from native Berber groups, with substantial Phoenician/Punic, Arab and Western European input. Tunisians are also descended, to a much lesser extent, from other African, Middle Eastern and/or European peoples. In sum, a little less than 20 percent of paternal haplogroups are from present day Levant, Arabia, Europe or West Africa.
"In fact, the Tunisian genetic distances to European samples are smaller than those to North African groups. This could be explained by the history of the Tunisian population, reflecting the influence of the ancient Punic settlers of Carthage followed, among others, by Roman, Byzantine, Arab and French occupations, according to historical records. Notwithstanding, other explanations cannot be discarded, such as the relative heterogeneity within current Tunisian populations, and/or the limited sub-Saharan genetic influence in this region as compared with other North African areas, without excluding the possibility of the genetic drift, whose effect might be particularly amplified on the X chromosome.", This suggests a fairly significant Middle Eastern and European input to Tunisian genetics compared to other neighbouring populations.
However, later research has suggested instead that Tunisians exhibit a mostly indigenous North African ancestral component similar to other Northwest African populations; characterized by a high amount of native Northwest African genes, but with higher Middle Eastern input than in Algeria or Morocco.

Y-Chromosome

Listed here are the human Y-chromosome DNA haplogroups in Tunisia.
HaplogroupnBE1aE1b1aE1b1b1E1b1b1a3E1b1b1a4E1b1b1bE1b1b1cFGIJ1J2KP,RR1a1R1b1aR1b1bT
MarkerM33M2M35V22V65M81M34M89M201V88M269M70
Tunisia6010.170.50.671.6633.1662.731.162.660.170.1716.642.830.330.330.51.830.331.16

CIA World Factbook demographic statistics

The following demographic statistics are from the CIA World Factbook, unless otherwise indicated.
Nationality

Vital Statistics

Fertility rates
Population growth rate
Age structure
Net migration rate
Urbanization
Sex ratio
Infant mortality rate
Life expectancy at birth

Ethnic groups

definition:
age 15 and over can read and write
total population:
81.8%
male:
89.6%
female:
74.2%
The literacy rate among the Tunisian population increased greatly after its independence from France. According to the 1996 census data, the literacy rate of the last generation of Tunisian men educated under the French rule was less than 65%. For the first generation educated after independence, literacy in Arabic among males had increased to nearly 80%.. Among the youngest generation included in the census, 96.6% were literate in Arabic.
Among Tunisian women, the increase in literacy was even greater. The literacy rate among the last generation of women educated under the French was less than 30%. In the first generation educated after independence, this increased to just over 40%. For the youngest generation of women cited, literacy in Arabic had increased to slightly over 90%; over 70% of women were also literate in French.